Global Fund Provides Nearly $10 Million for Democratic Republic of Congo’s Response to Mpox – Press Releases

Global Fund Commits Nearly $10 Million to Democratic Republic of Congo’s Response to Smallpox

September 18, 2024

– At the request of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) is supporting the country with US$9.5 million for the emergency response to MPox within the six provinces with the very best rates of transmission: Equateur, South Ubangui, Sankuru, Tshopo, South Kivu, North Kivu, in addition to Kinshasa, a highly populated province with 17 million inhabitants.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is currently grappling with the world’s largest mpox outbreak, with 5,160 confirmed cases and 25 deaths because the start of the yr. The World Health Organization (WHO) says testing coverage within the Democratic Republic of the Congo stays low because of limited testing capability and availability, and the variety of suspected cases is about five times higher than the variety of laboratory-confirmed cases.¹

By implementing the priority areas of the federal government’s National Preparedness and Response Plan, the Global Fund’s support will contribute to:

• with a selected give attention to strengthening early warning capacities – including community-based surveillance – and alert and response systems to detect, monitor and reply to MPOX and other disease outbreaks.
• to extend case detection and stop the spread of the disease.
• By expanding the network of community medical experts and other community actors already involved in HIV, TB and malaria prevention and awareness, people may have the data they should protect themselves, and we will even reduce the stigma related to MPox.
• to guard healthcare employees caring for sick patients, including on the community level.
• for crisis response and operations, including support for community engagement within the response and donor coordination.
• to oversee mpox, but in addition to support future emergencies involving high-risk children and adults, in addition to displaced and vulnerable populations. Strengthening existing health facilities also helps medical experts deal with other infectious diseases reminiscent of cholera, meningitis and measles.

“Our partnership with the Global Fund and other health partners has a proven track record of reducing infectious diseases,” said Dr. Roger Kamba, Minister of Health and Social Welfare of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Over the past two decades, AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been reduced by more than 60% through the coordination and collaboration of all our partners, and we are committed to continuing to work in the same way to achieve a strong response to mpox. Combating the current mpox epidemic is a top priority for our ministry, particularly through strengthening the community response. It is important to recognize that by acting now, we are not only combating mpox, but also investing in the resilience and health security of tomorrow.”

Support from the Global Fund will even strengthen ongoing collaboration between the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, WHO, humanitarian organisations and other key partners to handle the intense public health challenges in eastern DRC, where the MPox epidemic is compounded by the chance of other infectious diseases in an ongoing humanitarian crisis.

“People living in areas of conflict and crisis often face significant barriers to accessing health services due to damaged infrastructure, insecurity, and shortages of trained health personnel and resources,” said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund. “When outbreaks occur in these settings, the challenges are exacerbated. Strong systems of trusted community health workers, health educators, and other local responders are essential to stopping the spread of disease.”

The stigma related to epidemics reminiscent of MPox also delays patients from searching for healthcare.

“When a disease outbreak occurs, immediate intervention is crucial to strengthen health systems and improve disease detection, surveillance and response mechanisms to prevent further deterioration of health outcomes, particularly for women, children and internally displaced people,” said Mark Edington, director of grant management on the Global Fund.

Already in the course of the MPOX epidemic, the Global Fund supported the transport of accessible supplies of non-public protective equipment, reminiscent of medical gloves, masks and gowns, to essentially the most affected provinces.

The epidemiology of mpox continues to evolve in a posh manner, with necessary implications for prevention, preparedness, and response efforts. mpox is increasingly related to HIV. HIV increases the chance of mpox transmission, morbidity, and death in individuals with weakened immune systems and advanced HIV. Investing in a rustic’s mpox efforts helps strengthen its efforts to stop the spread of HIV, and vice versa.

With cumulative investments of virtually US$3.2 billion since 2003, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Global Fund are working together to combat HIV, tuberculosis and malaria and strengthen health systems.

The Global Fund encourages other crisis-affected countries to evaluate their MPox needs and consider repurposing existing Global Fund investments to handle those needs.

For more information, see the Global Fund’s mpox white paper [ download in English | Français | Português ] .

[1] Mpox: Multi-Country External Situation Report No. 36, World Health Organization, 14 September 2024.