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Foreign Minister Melanie Joly says Canada will release $1 million to help stop the spread of mpox in Africa as her government draws up a long-awaited plan to tackle the continent.
The funding will go to the World Health Organization in its efforts to contain the virus, formerly known as monkeypox, which is spreading rapidly through Africa.
Joly visits a vaccination coordination centre in Ivory Coast in preparation for her two-day visit to South Africa, which starts on Wednesday.
The visit to the West African country is intended to explore shared counter-terrorism priorities and reaffirm Canada’s ties with both French-speaking countries.
The current17:26WHO calls for international support in MPOX outbreak in Africa
Countries across Africa are grappling with an outbreak of mpox. Now the World Health Organization is calling for international support. It is estimated that at least 17,000 people have been infected with a new strain of the virus this year and more than 500 have died. But the new strain has not been detected in Canada.
Joly’s office says she will also discuss economic cooperation between Canada and South Africa and commemorate the 30th anniversary of the end of apartheid.
The trip comes days after the Liberals launched consultations on what they now call their approach to Africa, a plan that includes issues governments should focus on and the best places to station diplomats.
The African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has asked Canada to donate some of its stockpile of MPOX vaccines, though Ottawa has only indicated it will look into how it can help.
The recently announced funding will be used to improve detection and reporting systems for mpox by improving laboratory testing and accelerating research, Joly’s office said.
The funding builds on a $2 million contribution Canada made to WHO to respond to public health emergencies worldwide.
South Africa has previously criticized countries like Canada for hoarding COVID-19 vaccines, which are desperately needed in Africa, and for not supporting efforts to lift patents on COVID-19 drugs and vaccines, which are rarely allowed to be produced in African countries.
“Canada stands with our African and multilateral partners in their efforts to accelerate the response to the current mpox outbreak,” Joly said in a statement. “We are prepared to assist with the global response and do our part to stop the spread of the virus.”
Watch | Canada must take steps to ensure ‘vaccine equity’ of mpox, doctor says
Before the World Health Organization declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern for the second time earlier this week, African health officials called for 10 million vaccine doses to combat the crisis. Dr. Joanne Liu, director of the Pandemic Emergency Preparedness Lab at McGill University, says Canada can play a crucial role since the country has more vaccines than people.
The Liberals have been working for nearly three years on what they once called an Africa strategy, but last year they downgraded the project to a framework. In April, a senior administration official said there was no longer a noun used to describe the plan, which Ottawa this week called its “approach” to the continent.
Public administration experts have previously pointed out that strategies are multi-year plans, often with a financial allocation, while frameworks are generic sets of principles.
In 2022, senators on the Foreign Affairs Committee warned that Canada was falling behind both peers and adversaries in building economic ties on the continent.
Africa is bucking the global trend of demographic decline. Its population is growing rapidly, its youth are on the rise, and economists expect trade deals and infrastructure projects to lead to economic growth.
Canada has already pledged to come up with some sort of plan for economic cooperation with Africa, and completed a consultation last summer. It is unknown whether this project will be included in the broader approach that Joly is leading.
Aid experts have called on Canada to raise the profile of the projects it funds on the continent and adopt a more coherent approach to both development and trade.
Groups such as One Campaign and CUSO International have testified that Canada is losing relevance due to its continued withdrawal, thereby losing ground to Russia and China.
