WHO and Africa CDC launch response plan to the mpox outbreak

The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization on Friday launched a continent-wide response plan to the outbreak of mpox.

The joint initiative aims to strengthen and accelerate African countries’ response to the virus, supporting their efforts to curb its spread, and to save and protect lives.

It will get underway this month and run through to February next year, with an estimated budget of close to $600 million.

The announcement of the plan comes three weeks after the WHO declared the spread of the new strain of mpox a public health emergency of international concern.

Africa CDC’s director-general, Dr Jean Kaseya, said 55 per cent of the funds will go to the 14 nations with registered cases and to boost readiness in 15 others.

The remaining 45 per cent will be directed towards operational and technical support through partners. The organisation did not indicate who would be funding it.

“We have classified countries based on their degree of risk, where there is intense spread as is happening in eastern DRC and other places where there is transmission happening,” said WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti.

“And then right down to countries where we are working very much on building the preparedness and readiness to address in case cases appear, as has happened in Guinea.”

The plan focuses on surveillance, laboratory testing, and community engagement, Kaseya said, underscoring the fact that vaccines are not enough to fight the spreading outbreak.

Africa CDC said that since the start of 2024, there have been 5,549 confirmed mpox cases across the continent, with 643 associated deaths.

This represents a sharp escalation in both infections and fatalities compared to previous years.

Cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo make up 91 per cent of the total number. Most mpox infections in Congo and Burundi, the second most affected country, are in children under the age of 15.