The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday (26/8) launched a global strategic preparedness and response plan to stop the outbreak of human-to-human transmission of monkeypox (mpox) through coordinated global, regional and national efforts.
The move comes after WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on August 14, the UN agency said in a statement.
The $135 million plan will provide the funding needed for the preparedness of WHO, member states, partners including the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), communities and researchers for a six-month period starting in February 2025.
“Strategic vaccination efforts will focus on individuals at highest risk, including close contacts of recent cases and healthcare workers, to break the chain of transmission,” the statement said.
The statement also said that at the global level, emphasis will be placed on strategic leadership, timely evidence-based guidance, and access to medical measures for the most at-risk groups in affected countries. “The mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries can be controlled and stopped,” Tedros said.
WHO headquarters and regional offices have established incident management support teams to lead preparedness, readiness and response activities, and significantly increased staffing in affected countries. The mpox variant that prompted the declaration of a health emergency is believed to be more transmissible and deadly than previous variants, including the clade 2 strain responsible for the global outbreak that began in 2022.
Tedros previously said that more than 100,000 cases of MPOX had been confirmed to WHO since the global outbreak began in 2022. He noted an unprecedented increase in cases in Africa.
Known as monkeypox, mpox is a viral disease that can spread through close contact and contaminated materials such as bed linens, clothing and needles. (Ant/Z-2)
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