On August 23, Ambassador Dr. John Nkengasong – U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Senior Bureau Official for Global Health Security and Diplomacy – led a special session of the Foreign Ministry Channel for Global Health Security (FMC) to discuss the global response to the unprecedented surge of Clade I mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa. On August 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern following the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declaration of a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security on August 13.
During the special session, WHO’s Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, Africa CDC’s Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, and Dr. Christian Ngandu representing the DRC government provided updates on the mpox situation and their respective roles in supporting the response. Foreign ministry partners shared information and ideas to strengthen international collaboration to prevent the spread of mpox, detect cases, treat those impacted by the virus, and address roadblocks impeding the response. The United States highlighted the importance of timely action to save lives and prevent disease spread, noting that an infectious disease threat anywhere can be a threat everywhere. Representatives from Africa CDC, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, DRC, the European Union, France, Germany, Japan, Morocco, Norway, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and WHO attended the session.
State Department and foreign ministry counterparts launched the FMC in March 2024 as a platform to elevate attention and resources to global health threats as a key component of foreign policy and our collective security. The FMC has convened multiple meetings in 2024 under leadership of a diverse coalition of countries, with additional meetings planned in 2024 and 2025 to advance specific global health security priorities.
