The Minister of Health, Jorge Lopezreported that his sector is holding talks with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for the purchase of vaccines against monkeypox; however, he specified that the decision also goes through a committee of experts, who will help determine if they are needed or not.
“We have to keep in mind that we have a team, a committee of experts, which is in charge of saying whether we need the vaccines or not. Apart from that, we have a team, because the decision is not only on my part, we are also in talks. with the PAHOwhich is the only entity in charge of purchasing vaccines,” he said.
“It has been defining which countries in South America are going to buy the vaccines. So far we have three countries that want to buy vaccines. There must be a minimum purchase of 100,000 doses for the PAHO can buy it,” he added in statements to the press.
After specifying that the capacity of the entity that produces the vaccine would not be sufficient for the demand that the country would expect, the minister reiterated that talks are being held with the Pan American Health Organization to determine how many more countries can join this mechanism and make a joint purchase.
Precisely, on August 5, a team of specialists from the Ministry of Health participated in the special session with the Regional Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Americas, with the aim of initiating evaluations to access the vaccine that will help fight monkeypox.
Jorge Lopez It also reported that to date no patient positive for monkeypox has died in the country. It should be remembered that, according to recent reports from the minsaconfirmed cases of this disease in the Peru increased to 409 corresponding to 10 regions of the country.
“The person who died in the Hospital May 2 he had comorbidities, he had abandoned the treatment he had. He comes for another disease and when they do the tests they realize that he also had monkeypox. He doesn’t die from monkeypox, but from other comorbidities that he had,” he clarified.
Vaccines should target risk groups
Percy Minayamedical epidemiologist and former Deputy Minister of Health, argued that the application of vaccines against monkey pox in Peru, whose acquisition is being evaluated by the Ministry of Health (Minsa)should be primarily intended to the high-risk population.
“Fundamentally, to people who are currently at the highest risk of transmission from their exposure. These, clearly, are men who have sex with other men (…) and then the health workers who may be highly exposed by case management, contact with them,” he explained in dialogue with RPP News.
In that sense, Minaya pointed out that, in the current situation, “mass vaccination is not recommended” but only in the “priority groups”.
“Here we do not have a specific record, it is calculated that may be 1% of the population if we talk about men who have sex with men, but we do not need to enter the entire population. The first thing we have to do is vaccinate a group that is at high risk by the transmission and that requires the clear identification of their contacts,” he said.
Minaya explained that vaccination “is one of the ways more effective to be able to control the virus” since “it not only prevents, it can also cut off the infection process if it is at an early stage”. However, he stressed that the application of vaccines must go hand in hand with other strategies of prevention Y control.
“The number of vaccines is going to be important, but also the continuity of contact monitoring and control activitiesas we met him in COVID-19because that is where we can quickly control, before the arrival of the vaccines, the possibilities of this continuing to be transmitted,” he said.
PODCAST RPP: Congress has dismantled the reform in the university system, denounces Flor Pablo
The legislator said that there were economic interests behind the project approved by insistence in the plenary session of Parliament. On the other hand, legislator Alex Paredes, from the ruling Magisterial Block, justified his group’s support for the project’s insistence despite the fact that the government observed the law.