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Doha – The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday launched a comprehensive six-month plan to halt human-to-human transmission of mpox through coordinated global and regional efforts.
The $135 million Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan covers the period from September 2024 through February 2025.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern on August 14th.
“The mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries can be controlled, and can be stopped,” said Tedros. “Doing so requires a comprehensive and coordinated plan of action.”
The WHO plan focuses on implementing comprehensive surveillance, prevention, and response strategies.
Key elements include advancing research and equitable access to diagnostic tests and vaccines, minimizing animal-to-human transmission, and empowering communities to actively participate in outbreak control.
Strategic vaccination efforts will prioritize individuals at highest risk, including close contacts of recent cases and healthcare workers, to interrupt transmission chains.
At the global level, the plan emphasizes timely evidence-based guidance and access to medical countermeasures for the most at-risk groups in affected countries.
WHO is working with a broad range of partners to enhance coordination across preparedness and response activities.
The global health agency’s headquarters and regional offices have established incident management teams and are scaling up staff in affected countries.
Read also: WHO Declares Monkeypox Outbreak a Global ‘Public Health Emergency’
Within the Africa region, the WHO Regional Office for Africa and Africa CDC will jointly spearhead the coordination of mpox response efforts under a “one-plan, one-budget” approach.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control reported that as of last Thursday, more than 21,300 suspected or confirmed cases and 590 deaths have been reported this year across 12 African countries. Congo remains the hardest-hit, with over 1,000 new cases in the past week alone.
Germany, France, and Austria have pledged to donate mpox vaccines to assist the African response.
Mpox, which belongs to the same viral family as smallpox, typically causes milder symptoms like fever, chills, and body aches. It primarily spreads through close skin-to-skin contact. More serious cases can develop lesions on the face, hands, chest, and genitals.
While the virulent Clade 1 mpox strain fueling the current outbreak has heightened global concerns, WHO officials stress that mpox is not comparable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Mpox is not the new COVID,” said Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe. “We know how to control mpox.”
No new mpox cases have been reported in Morocco for several months, according to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.
The country recorded five cases during the less severe 2022 Clade 2 outbreak but has thus far been spared from the Clade 1 variant.
Moroccan health officials continue to closely monitor the international epidemiological situation.
