Congo to Receive $9.5 Million to Help Fight Mpox Outbreak

A health worker attends to an mpox patient at a treatment center in Munigi, eastern Congo, on Aug. 19, 2024. AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will receive $9.5 million from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria to aid its emergency response to the latest deadly outbreak of mpox—also known as monkeypox—in the country, according to the financing organization.

The funding will support the DRC in its response efforts in six of the highest-transmission provinces—Equateur, Sud-Ubangui, Sankuru, Tshopo, Sud-Kivu, Nord-Kivu—as well as in Kinshasa, which is home to 17 million people, the Global Fund said in a Sept. 18 statement.

According to the financier, the money will be spent on boosting disease surveillance systems, with special emphasis placed on strengthening early warning capabilities; enhancing laboratory systems and diagnostics to increase case detection and prevent the disease from spreading; and conducting risk communication, community mobilization, and engagement activities.

The funds also will be spent on implementing various infection prevention and control measures to protect health workers caring for sick patients, and reinforcing country-level coordination, planning, and support for emergency response and operations.

Additionally, the money will help health facilities in the DRC to not only provide primary health care services but also efficiently respond to future emergencies affecting children, high-risk adults, and displaced and vulnerable individuals.

The cash injection came at the request of the DRC government, according to the fund.

It comes as the DRC is currently battling the largest mpox epidemic in the world, with 15,600 reported cases and 537 deaths since the start of this year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has declared the outbreak a global health emergency.

According to the WHO, testing coverage in the DRC remains low because of limited capacity and availability. Because of this, the number of suspected cases is thought to be about five times the number of laboratory-confirmed cases, according to the agency.

Mpox has been endemic in parts of Africa for decades, having been first detected in humans in the DRC in 1970.

However, the epidemiology of the disease has continued to evolve in complex ways, and it is increasingly presenting in HIV-positive individuals.

More Vaccines Needed, Africa’s Top Public Health Body Warns

In the DRC, which is already struggling with an ongoing humanitarian crisis that has displaced millions, mpox is steadily converging with risks of other infectious diseases.

Against the background of rising cases, Africa’s top public health body, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, declared a public emergency over the mpox outbreak in August, and its head warned that the continent needed more than 10 million vaccine doses.

So far, about 3.6 million doses of mpox vaccine have been pledged to the DRC by other nations that have stockpiles. But the country has received only a small portion of those shots.

Vaccines for mpox have never previously been available outside clinical trials in affected countries in Africa, despite a different strain of the virus spreading from 2022 to 2023 and impacting nations worldwide.

In a statement announcing the funding, Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund, said those living in areas of conflict and crises often face significant barriers when it comes to accessing health services because of damaged infrastructure, insecurity, and a shortage of trained health personnel and supplies.

“When a disease outbreak occurs in these places, the challenges are compounded. Strong systems of trusted community health workers, health educators, and other local responders are essential for stopping disease spread,” Sands said.

Mpox spreads through close contact and typically causes flu-like symptoms such as a fever, as well as a rash or pus-filled lesions, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Symptoms usually start within several weeks of exposure and can last for several weeks.

Reuters contributed to this report.