The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it needs $87.4 million over six months, from September 2024 to February 2025, to work with countries, partners and other stakeholders to stop and contain the current outbreak of mpox.
This follows the declaration of a global emergency on 14 August.
Nigeria – which has confirmed 40 mpox cases this year but says the true number could be more than 700 – received its vaccine doses as a donation from the US. The West African nation has not recorded any deaths from the virus.
These funds will be used by WHO to implement critical activities outlined in the global strategic preparedness and response plan (SPRP) released yesterday, on 26 August 2024.
The SPRP is a comprehensive framework developed by WHO to guide the global response to mpox, emphasizing surveillance, research, equitable access to medical countermeasures, and community empowerment.
The required funds will be used across WHO headquarters, regional and country offices, to enable coordination of the response, provide technical assistance, run operations and deliver medical supplies.
WHO calls on donors to urgently fund the full extent of the mpox response to prevent further spread and protect those most at risk.
The SPRP earlier mentioned a need for $ 135 million, which is the estimated budget for international support to national mpox responses, across partners and stakeholders, and includes $ 87.4 million to implement the SPRP.
