Geneva — To respond to the mpox outbreak spreading in Africa, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) has approved additional funding for Rwanda and several reinvestments in other affected countries.
For Rwanda, which has recently reported circulation of the novel clade 1b mpox virus, the Global Fund has approved an investment of US$5.17 million through funds from its COVID-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM).
"Rwanda is grateful for the continuous support from the Global Fund," said Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, Minister of Health of Rwanda. "This additional investment of US$5.17 million reflects the strong and effective partnership we share in overcoming health challenges; it will further strengthen our efforts to protect the lives and well-being of our people."
In addition, the Global Fund has approved the repurposing of C19RM funds to respond to the mpox outbreak in the following affected countries: Ghana (US$1.5 million), Côte d'Ivoire (EUR 1.01 million), Liberia (US$440,000) and Burundi (US$140,000).
This follows announcements made in September by the Global Fund to approve additional support for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda in the fight against mpox.
"These investments demonstrate the Global Fund's unwavering commitment, agility and capacity to address urgent public health crises," said Mark Edington, Head of Grant Management at the Global Fund. "By working closely with our partners, we are not only providing immediate support to save lives, but also reinforcing health systems to better respond to future health emergencies."
The new funding will support a range of interventions directed at supporting people in the affected countries:
- Enhancing disease surveillance systems, with special emphasis on strengthening early warning capabilities - including community-based surveillance - and alert and response systems to detect, monitor and respond to mpox and other disease outbreaks.
- Strengthening laboratory systems and diagnostics to increase case detection with the objective of stopping the spread of the disease.
- Conducting risk communication and community mobilization and engagement. Building up the network of community health workers and other community actors already deployed for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria prevention and awareness-raising will ensure people have the information they need to protect themselves and will reduce stigma associated with mpox.
- Implementing infection prevention and control measures to protect health workers who care for sick patients, including at the community level.
- Reinforcing country-level coordination, planning and support for emergency response and operations, including support for community involvement in the response and donor coordination.
- Strengthening the capacity of health facilities to not only provide primary health care services to manage mpox, but also to protect against future emergencies affecting children and high-risk adults, as well as displaced and vulnerable populations. Strengthening existing health facilities also helps health workers address other infectious diseases such as cholera, meningitis and measles.
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The epidemiology of mpox has continued to evolve in complex ways, which has important implications for prevention, preparedness and response efforts. Mpox is increasingly being associated with HIV. HIV heightens the risk of mpox transmission, illness and death in people with weak immune systems and with advanced HIV. Investing in a country's mpox efforts helps strengthen their work to stop the spread of HIV and vice versa.
