Funding aims to help scientists stop spread of virus
The UK government has pledged £3.1 million for Democratic Republic of Congo-based scientists’ fight against mpox.
Ray Collins, minister for Africa, announced the financial support to help over 4.4 million people in affected communities and stop the spread of the disease.
Collins, visiting the Institute National de Recherche Biomedical (National Institute of Biomedical Research) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said: “Working together, with our partners and using the expertise and dedication of Congolese scientists, including those at the world-leading research centre I have visited in DRC, our support will play an important role in ensuring global health security for all.
“By protecting the health and well-being of communities across DRC, and by helping contain these outbreaks, we reduce the risk of diseases spreading further afield. This will ultimately benefit us all.”
Emergency rapidly escalates
The UK is awarding the funding as part of a new partnership with children’s charity Unicef, which is working with organisations including the World Health Organization (WHO), national governments and public health agency the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to contain the virus.
Last week the WHO declared the rise in cases of mpox in the DRC and Africa a public health emergency. This is the highest level of alarm that can be expressed under international law.
Just a day later it was reported that the first case of a variant, clade 1, had been detected in Europe after the person had visited Africa. Scientists said this was concerning and called for public health authorities around the world to be vigilant.
Working together
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said on X, formerly Twitter, last week: “On top of outbreaks of other mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office explained that the UK government is in regular contact with the WHO and the Africa CDC on developments in the outbreak. It is also supporting the WHO Regional Office for Africa to respond to the health emergency.
“As the largest flexible donor to the WHO globally the UK is also helping it to allocate resources where most needed through vaccines and treatments,” the department said.
Christian Ngandu, public health emergency operations centre coordinator at DRC’s National Public Health Institute, said: “The UK’s support to the DRC, in partnership with Unicef, on the mpox response, will contribute to saving the lives of affected populations by aligning with the DRC’s national mpox preparedness and response plan.”