The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday that the Mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighbouring countries can be controlled and eliminated. However, to achieve this, funding of €121 million will be needed over the next six months to support international response efforts.
This amount is included in the WHO’s Global Strategic Plan for Preparedness and Response to Mpox, which will cover the period from September 2024 to February 2025. This plan, made public in a press release, provides for total funding of 135 million dollars (about 121 million euros). It includes not only the actions of the WHO, but also those of Member States and their partners, such as the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
WHO will soon launch an appeal for funds to clarify its financial needs, but in the meantime the organization has already mobilized about $1.5 million from its emergency contingency fund.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the statement that: Mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries can be controlled and stopped ».
The situation has worsened with the resurgence of Mpox and the emergence of a new variant, called clade 1b, initially identified in the DRC. This development led the WHO to declare its highest level of alert on an international scale on 14 August.
The WHO had already activated this alert level in 2022, when clade 2b caused a global Mpox outbreak, which then subsided until the alert was lifted in May 2023.
Since the start of the global outbreak in 2022, more than 100,000 confirmed cases have been reported to WHO. While the virus continues to circulate at low levels globally, Dr Tedros warned of an alarming increase in cases in Africa, where the DRC alone accounts for 90% of reported cases in 2024. More than 16,000 suspected cases have been reported since January, including 575 deaths.
This situation is exacerbated by the presence of two separate outbreaks in different parts of the country, involving two strains, or clades, of the virus. However, it is the rapid spread of clade 1b that has prompted the WHO to declare the Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a zoonotic viral disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans, as well as between humans through direct contact. It manifests itself with fever, muscle aches and skin lesions.
