GENEVA: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for coordinated global action to address a new outbreak of mpox, unveiling a response plan that will require at least $135 million over the next six months.
“This new mpox outbreak can be controlled and stopped,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a speech to WHO member states in Geneva, which was later shared on the social media platform X.
He emphasized the need for a comprehensive and coordinated international response, as cases have spread beyond Africa to Europe and Asia, including Pakistan.
This briefing came just over a week after Tedros declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern. “The global outbreak began in 2022, with over 100,000 confirmed cases reported since then,” Tedros said. “While the virus is circulating at low levels worldwide, Africa is experiencing a significant surge.”
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), there have been more than 16,000 suspected cases this year alone, including 575 deaths. The outbreak is being driven by two strains of the mpox virus, with the rapid spread of the new clade 1b prompting Tedros to declare mpox a global public health emergency on August 14.
“In the past month, clade 1b cases have been reported in four countries neighboring the DRC—Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda—that had not previously reported mpox. Cases have also been detected in Thailand and Sweden this week,” Tedros said.
In response, WHO and its partners have developed a plan to stop human-to-human transmission of mpox through coordinated efforts at global, regional, and national levels.
“This outbreak can be controlled and stopped,” Tedros reiterated. “But it requires concerted action between international agencies, national and local partners, civil society, researchers, manufacturers, and member states.”
He stressed the importance of equity, global solidarity, community empowerment, human rights, and cross-sector coordination in the response.
The Global Mpox Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SRSP) focuses on implementing comprehensive surveillance and response strategies, as well as advancing research and ensuring equitable access to medical countermeasures.
