The program is funded with $600 million for the six months from September 2024 through February 2025, 55 percent of which will be for response and preparedness in 28 countries and 45 percent for operational support.
According to the continental prevention center, 14 African Union member states have reported 24,851 cases of the disease and 643 deaths since the beginning of 2024, a figure representing 5,466 new cases and 26 new deaths in the last week.
The continental response plan focuses on coordination, surveillance, vaccination and research as basic pillars, and establishes the classification of member states into four groups according to risk, in order to better target efforts and the efficiently allocating resources.
The spread of the disease led to the declaration of Mpox as a medical emergency of continental importance on August 13m, and the activation of mechanisms such as the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) in Addis Ababa, establishing a 24-hour monitoring system.
In addition, a new surveillance reporting protocol was put in place, emphasizing data standardization, genomic sequencing and cross-border coordination, to improve detection and response.
The African Union Centre for Disease Control and Prevention also reached an agreement with the European pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic, to assist one of the nine major African pharmaceutical companies manufacture the Mpox vaccine.
Ied/abo/ro/kmg
