The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday launched a six-month plan to help stop outbreaks of mpox transmission, including increasing workers in affected countries and boosting surveillance, prevention, and response strategies.
The global health agency said it expects the plan from September through February next year will require $135 million (€121 million) in funding.
It aims to improve fair access to vaccines, notably in African countries hardest hit by the outbreak.
“The mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries can be controlled, and can be stopped,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement.
The agency is “significantly scaling up staff” in affected countries, it said. In mid-August, WHO classified the current mpox outbreak as a global health emergency.
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Also on Monday, German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Germany is donating 100,000 doses of mpox vaccine to affected countries from stocks held by its military, the dpa news agency reported.
Last week, France committed 100,000 vaccine doses and Austrian officials said they would donate vaccines, though the actual tally is still unclear.
Their announcements came after EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides called for European countries to come together to support the African public health response.
Last Tuesday, Congo, the hardest-hit country, reported more than 1,000 new mpox cases over the previous week.
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In its latest update on the outbreak, the African Centres for Disease Control reported that as of Thursday, more than 21,300 suspected or confirmed cases and 590 deaths have been reported this year in 12 African countries.
Mpox belongs to the same family of viruses as smallpox but typically causes milder symptoms like fever, chills and body aches.
It mostly spreads through close skin-to-skin contact, including sexual intercourse. People with more serious cases can develop lesions on the face, hands, chest and genitals.
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