WHO Launches $135M Global Strategy To Fight Mpox

August 26, 2024 Medicine, Science

The World Health Organization writes:

The World Health Organization (WHO) today launched a global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to stop outbreaks of human-to-human transmission of mpox through coordinated global, regional, and national efforts. This follows the declaration of a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO Director-General on 14 August.

The plan covers the six-month period of September 2024-February 2025, envisioning a US$135 million funding need for the response by WHO, Member States, partners including Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), communities, and researchers, among others.

A funding appeal for what WHO needs to deliver on the plan will be launched shortly. Strategic vaccination efforts will focus on individuals at the highest risk, including close contacts of recent cases and healthcare workers, to interrupt transmission chains.

Within the Africa Region, where need is greatest, the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) in collaboration with Africa CDC, will jointly spearhead the coordination of mpox response efforts. WHO AFRO and Africa CDC have agreed on a one-plan, one-budget approach as part of the Africa Continental Mpox Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, currently under preparation.

Reuters reports:

Germany will donate 100,000 mpox vaccine doses from its military stocks to help contain the outbreak on the African continent in the short term as well as provide help to the affected countries, said a government spokesperson on Monday.

The government will provide the World Health Organization with flexible financial resources via various instruments to combat mpox and also support its partners in Africa through the GAVI vaccination alliance, added the spokesperson.

The BBC reports:

Children in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo are worst-affected by the current outbreak of mpox, which has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization. The country accounts for nearly all of this year’s recorded cases and more than 450 deaths.

Across eastern DR Congo, there are several camps for the millions who have fled their homes as various rebel groups operate in the area. People are often crammed into makeshift structures and living in poor conditions without good sanitation – the perfect place for mpox to run rampant.

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