On Air, On Alert: Radio's Voices on Mpox in Africa
Two countries in very different states of an outbreak, but in both, communities are making one thing clear: they want vaccines.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, radio broadcasts capture the strain of remote communities managing overlapping health crises with little outside support. In Guinea, hosts are warning that the outbreak could spread quickly if vaccination efforts lag.
DRC: A Plea from the Field
In the DRC, radio coverage is capturing the reality of a health system under pressure in remote areas. In the rural health zone of Yalimbongo, at least 14 mpox cases have been reported alongside more than 12 cholera cases, compounding an already fragile situation in communities where sanitation infrastructure is nearly nonexistent and access to drinking water remains limited.
Against this backdrop, community leaders are not turning away from health interventions. A local chief has made an urgent plea for help. In a report broadcast in late February, he warned that there is "neither a vaccine nor medication to relieve the sick" in his locality. He specifically pleaded with provincial and national health authorities for the "immediate dispatch of medical teams" and "available vaccines against Mpox" to contain an outbreak that had reached at least 14 cases in his landlocked area.
Listen to a report from the field.
This desperation is echoed in the Isangi health zone, where authorities have appealed to the central government for "urgent intervention" and therapeutic means to combat a simultaneous measles and mpox crisis.
Guinea: Early Warnings and Calls for Rapid Action
As of March 2, 2026, Guinea's National Health Security Agency declared mpox a major national concern after the virus spread across seven health districts. Radio hosts are framing the outbreak as a moment requiring swift action, with one broadcast warning:
"History teaches us that a spark is enough to set the country ablaze if vaccination coverage does not follow immediately."
Coverage is concentrated in Conakry, where urban density is accelerating the spread. Here too, the public conversation is not one of vaccine hesitancy but of urgency.