Pope Francis on Sunday highlighted victims of the mpox virus in his weekly prayers and called on governments and the pharmaceutical industry to do more to get vaccines to the worst hit countries.
“I pray for all the infected people, in particular the population of Democratic Republic of Congo, so affected, I express my closeness to the local churches most touched by this disease,” the pope said during his Angelus prayers in St Peter’s Square.
The World Health Organization this month declared the surge of mpox cases from DR Congo to other African nations to be a global health emergency. It has also called for greater production and sharing of vaccines.
