By ELSIE EYAKUZE

More by this Author

I was minding my health, trying to get my daily exercise and sleep the recommended eight hours a night when a poster from the Ministry of Health crossed my eyes. It had to do with the Mpox outbreak and ways in which one might protect oneself from infection.

Oh lord, not another one.

Humanity has never been healthier, for the record. Most mothers and children are surviving childbirth. Infant mortality is decreasing, we are living longer lives.

Globally, we produce enough calories to go around, granted that there is a great imbalance as to who consumes them. It is fun to complain that the 21st Century is not as shiny as advertised by science fiction, but in truth I like it here... except for the global pandemics.

According to Wikipedia, out of over 1,400 pathogens known to affect human beings, about 60 percent are zoonotic. This means that they are infections that came to us from animals.

Read: EAC issues alert on spread of mpox

Because we humans are doing so well, there are now very many of us and we are creating more opportunities to interact with the biosphere. The biosphere likes to interact with us right back, and zoonotic diseases are predicted to increase if we continue the way we have been going with our environmental impacts.

One of the dangers of comfort is that we can forget how good we have it. Between vaccinations and antibiotics, being healthy is the norm and we feel fairly safe from icky infections. When Covid-19 hit the planet, it was a shocking reminder that Mother Nature is formidable and we are mere mortals.

Mpox — delicately shortened from its politically charged full name, if you know about the history of racism in modern medicine — is a brazenly ugly disease. Unfortunately, it has ambitions and is trying to break out of its endemic country to go on a world tour. The suspicion is that this 2024 edition might also be a little bit deadly compared to previous ourbreaks, especially when combined with a weak immune system or HIV. Nasty little thing.

The good news is that there is a vaccine, because science! This pox is a relative of smallpox which was first managed using a vaccine derived from cowpox, so there is a bit of a history of familiarity with these viruses. Add in our current breakthroughs in medical technology, and we have a way to stave off potential disaster.

The challenging news: As Charles Onyango-Obbo pointed out in his recent commentary about East Africans and their habits as revealed by 10 years of research by Sauti za Wananchi, my fellow Tanzanians are conspiracy flavoured. If the Mpox vaccine is offered to us, we are likely to treat it with suspicion even though the epicentre of the outbreak is, like, right next door.

This disease could walk across the border, it doesn’t even have to get on a plane. I mean, more vaccine for me, cool, but I do have a mild interest in the welfare of the other 60 million co-citizens. Anyways, if one thinks about it too much, stress can ensue. Best to stick to what is achievable: A belief that science will pull us through, mild exercise and a good sleep regime. Good luck, East Africa, stay healthy.

Elsie Eyakuze is an independent consultant and blogger for The Mikocheni Report; E-mail: [email protected]