GENEVA, September 6. /TASS/. A global response to mpox requires a funding of $290 million over the six months started in September 2024, the World Health Organization said in an updated plan to counter the spread of the disease.
The updated global strategic preparedness and response plan for mpox was released on September 6. The original plan from August 26 called for a funding of $135 million.
"The global SPRP has been updated to include inputs from WHO Member States and to reflect further planning done at the continent level, with governments, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and other partners." the WHO said. "The funding requirement of $290 million is for the international support to national responses. This requirement excludes the cost of procuring and/or distributing estimated to be 4 million vaccines required for the first phase of response to stop the outbreak."
"The strategy, plan and resource requirement will be reviewed and adjusted quarterly," the organization said. "The SPRP emphasizes surveillance, research, equitable access to medical countermeasures, and community empowerment to respond to this global emergency. The initial six-month operation will focus on controlling acute outbreaks of human-to-human transmission."
Mpox is a viral disease that occurs mainly in remote areas in central and western Africa near tropical forests. The first case of animal-to-human transmission of the disease was recorded in 1970 in the DRC. WHO declared the mpox outbreak in Africa as a global health emergency on August 14, 2024.