Global Fund Supports Countries to Respond to Mpox – News

Global Fund Helps Countries Respond to Smallpox

August 30, 2024

– In light of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declaration on Public Health Emergency within the Context of Continental Security (PHECS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration Recognizing MPOX as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) reaffirms its commitment to reply rapidly to requests from countries to reinvest grants to strengthen their response to MPOX outbreaks.

The flexibility of granting subsidies has been in force because the previous yr WHO PHEIC for mpox announced in July 2022.The Global Fund also updated its technical description [ download in English | Français | Português ] for countries to align with current WHO and Africa CDC guidelines and update them because the situation evolves.

“When disease outbreaks occur, it is critical that countries can respond quickly to stop transmission and halt the spread of the virus,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “The flexibility of our funding allows countries to make rapid, evidence-based decisions that will help stop the outbreak more quickly and protect the progress the Global Fund partnership has made in responding to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.”

The Global Fund’s ongoing investments in HIV, tuberculosis and malaria programmes have made a big contribution to strengthening health systems through support for activities comparable to laboratories, surveillance and community medical experts that higher prepare countries to forestall, detect and reply to other diseases comparable to MPOX.

The epidemiology of mpox continues to evolve in complex ways, with vital implications for prevention, preparedness, and response efforts. It is increasingly related to HIV, increasing the danger 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.

According to the Africa CDC, the epidemic is most severe in Africa. More than 74% of the Global Fund’s grants are distributed within the region, with investments since 2021 totaling almost $13 billion.

Global Fund grants might be applied for to support activities comparable to strengthening systems for essential prevention, early detection and response functions, including disease surveillance, strengthening laboratory capability, engaging communities and expanding the workforce.

The Global Fund will proceed to work with partners comparable to Africa CDC, WHO, FIND and others to support the supply of diagnostics within the countries where it invests. The technical temporary is being updated to incorporate mpox molecular tests that meet the Global Fund’s quality assurance standards and might be procured through Global Fund financing.

“For more than 20 years, the Global Fund has been working with countries to improve their capacity to respond to and recover from pandemics, starting with the HIV/AIDS pandemic,” Sands added. “The laboratories, disease surveillance systems, social networks, supply chains and other parts of the health system built to combat HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, and strengthened in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, provide a platform to protect people and communities from mpox and other disease outbreaks.”

The Global Fund will monitor developments within the outbreak and the technical recommendations from the African CDC and WHO, and can work closely with countries to support their responses to mpox.