WHO Launches Global Plan to Combat Mpox Outbreaks with $135 Million Funding Appeal

Building on the recommendations issued by the WHO Director-General, the plan emphasizes comprehensive surveillance, prevention, readiness, and response strategies.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has unveiled a global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan aimed at halting human-to-human transmission of mpox through coordinated global, regional, and national efforts. This initiative follows the declaration of a public health emergency of international concern by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on 14 August.

The plan, covering the period from September 2024 to February 2025, outlines a funding need of $135 million to support the response efforts of WHO, Member States, partners such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), communities, and researchers. A formal funding appeal will be launched soon.

Building on the recommendations issued by the WHO Director-General, the plan emphasizes comprehensive surveillance, prevention, readiness, and response strategies. It also prioritizes advancing research and ensuring equitable access to medical countermeasures like diagnostic tests and vaccines, minimizing animal-to-human transmission, and empowering communities to take an active role in outbreak prevention and control.

Strategic vaccination efforts will target those at highest risk, including close contacts of recent cases and healthcare workers, to break transmission chains. Globally, the plan focuses on strategic leadership, providing timely evidence-based guidance, and ensuring access to medical countermeasures for the most vulnerable groups in affected regions.

WHO is collaborating with a wide range of international, regional, national, and local partners to enhance coordination across key areas of preparedness, readiness, and response. This includes engagement with the ACT-Accelerator Principals group, the Standing Committee on Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response, the R&D Blueprint for Epidemics, and the interim Medical Counter Measures Network (i-MCM Net).

A virtual scientific conference will be hosted by the WHO R&D Blueprint, Africa CDC, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on 29-30 August 2024, aiming to align mpox research with outbreak control goals.

“The mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries can be controlled and stopped,” said Dr. Tedros. “Achieving this requires a comprehensive and coordinated plan involving international agencies, national and local partners, civil society, researchers, manufacturers, and Member States. This SPRP [Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan] offers that plan, rooted in the principles of equity, global solidarity, community empowerment, human rights, and cross-sector coordination.”

WHO headquarters and regional offices have set up incident management support teams to lead preparedness, readiness, and response activities, significantly increasing staff in affected countries. Within the Africa Region, the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) and Africa CDC will jointly lead mpox response efforts, following a "one-plan, one-budget" approach as part of the Africa Continental Mpox Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, which is currently being developed.

National and sub-national health authorities will adapt their strategies in response to the latest epidemiological trends to ensure an effective response to the outbreak.