Pandemic Action Network (PAN), Resilience Action Network Africa (RANA), and more than 70 organizations are calling for leadership and solidarity to address the mpox crisis in advance of the G20 4th Health Working Group (Sept. 1-3, 2024).
Join us and sign on today!
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Dear G20 Health Ministers and Sherpas:
Global Wake Up Call: Calling for G20 Leadership & Solidarity to Address the Mpox Crisis
We are writing to you in advance of the G20 4th Health Working Group (Sept. 1-3). The World Health Organization (WHO) has now reported mpox cases in 35 countries across six regions, 22 of which reported an increase in monthly cases, and of those, 7 countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Thailand, and Sweden) have reported cases of the concerning clade 1b.¹ This has led to the declaration of WHO’s second PHEIC in two years related to mpox and the Africa CDC to declare the first-ever Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS). These declarations serve as a global wake-up call to world, regional, and national leaders.
Africa CDC and WHO leadership should be supported by global solidarity to bring vaccine doses and resources to those that need them as quickly as possible — with support for longer term efforts to build manufacturing capabilities on the African continent.
So far, many countries that are sitting on vaccine supplies have not been willing to give doses from their stockpiles in the numbers required to countries that urgently need them. Notable exceptions include Spain, which has pledged 500,000 doses and is urging all EU countries to donate 20% of their stockpiles. There are also reports of large amounts of doses being given from Japan to the DRC.² The longer we wait, needs will increase as mpox spreads and it will be harder to contain: we must also ensure countries have the technology and know-how to manufacture mpox vaccines themselves.
The moment calls for global solidarity as voiced by Africa CDC. The G20 must deliver on their promise to prioritize prevention, preparedness, and response to pandemics, and local and regional production of medicines, vaccines, and strategic health supplies. To do this, we call on you to:
- Elevate tackling mpox nationally, regionally and internationally to a political priority in your government. Political leadership is needed to save lives, address gendered impacts, stigmatisation and discrimination, and stop the spread. We call on you to bring your leaders’ attention to this immediately and create whole-of-government efforts to address this crisis internationally.
- Support Africa CDC’s one plan, one budget effort to deliver 10 million doses of vaccines by 2025. Companies and countries should step up immediately and deliver the know-how, tech transfer, and finance needed to contain mpox now and in the long term.
- Mobilize rapid and sustainable financing to deliver country, regional, and global response plans, including WHO’s initial call for $135.8M (which does not include vaccine costs). G20 countries should also urgently consider debt pauses for affected countries, particularly those in Africa to unlock domestic resources as a response to the current mpox emergency and future PHEICs, helping to catalyze implementation of Joint Emergency Action Plan (JEAP) in African countries.
- Unlock stockpiles of mpox vaccines for access now, delivering doses as soon as possible, working closely with Africa CDC and national authorities, ensuring all bureaucratic hurdles are addressed (e.g., labeling). This must be coupled with rapid ramp-up of mpox vaccine manufacturing to refill stockpiles and bolster global supplies.
- Deliver effective treatments, accelerating the development of treatments, including proper care for skin lesions to reduce the spread of bacterial infections and consequent severe health issues, and ensuring equitable access for all to accurate and rapid point-of-care diagnostics.
- Support structural efforts to build capacity for R&D and manufacturing on the African continent including technology transfer agreements and financing to build manufacturing capacity, so that African countries in particular can invest in their manufacturing capacity. The G20 must expedite its plan to support capacity-building and knowledge sharing with Africa and other low- and middle-income regions including on bio-social spheres to enhance planning for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
- Support increased national-level and regional surveillance, laboratory testing, and sequencing capacity in the immediate term to track disease progression and support non-pharmaceutical interventions.
- Invest in and support effective, community outreach strategies and community-level risk communications (including addressing mis- and disinformation), targeted to the most vulnerable and at-risk populations and more broadly, with particular support to avoid stigmatisation; ensure the collection of evidence on the spread of mpox while respecting data rights of individuals and communities.
- Deliver solidarity, not travel bans. The COVID-19 era of double standards needs to be left behind. Countries need to treat other nations with the same respect they show to those in their own continent, and demonstrate solidarity in terms of diplomacy, finance, and manufacturing.
We therefore call on you as G20 Ministers and leaders of the mpox response in your countries to come together and make sure international cooperation is at the forefront of this response, not at the end of the line as it was with COVID-19. We either act now or we keep paying the price during the next pandemic. Now is the time for leadership that will catalyse resilience for the future. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to acting for public health and global good. Best wishes for a successful and an action-oriented Health Working Group Meeting.
Sincerely,
Full list of signatories:
- Action Santé Asbl
- Africa Coalition on TB (ACT Africa)
- African Future Policies Hub (AFPH)
- Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA) – CSOs Global Network and Think-tank
- Afya na Haki
- Amis des Etrangers au Togo (ADET)
- Amref Health Africa
- Association d’Aide à l’Education de l’Enfant Handicapé ( AAEEH)
- Association for Promotion Sustainable Development
- Bureau d’Informations, Formations, Échanges et Recherches pour le Développement (BIFERD)
- Centre for the Development of People
- Civil Society Movement Against TB
- Civil Society Platform for Health (CiSPHA)
- Coalition des OSC pour le Financement de la Santé et la CSU (COFIS-CSU)
- Coalition for Health Promotion and Social Development (HEPS Uganda)
- Coalition Nationale des Associations Locales PBF Santé
- Colectivo Cero Desabasto
- Community and Family Aid Foundation-Ghana
- Community Health Impact Coalition
- Community Health Volunteer
- Consortium for the Advancement of Rights for Key Affected Populations (CARKAP)
- Disability Peoples Forum Uganda
- Dr Uzo Adirieje Foundation (DUZAFOUND)
- DRAFT TB
- DSW
- EANNASO
- East Africa Child Rights Network
- Entrepreneurship Initiative for African Youth (EIFAY Africa)
- FIND
- For Impacts in Social Health
- Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
- Fundacion Huesped
- GCTA Youth Cameroon
- Global Citizen
- Global Fund Advocates Network
- Global Health Council
- Health Diplomacy Alliance
- Hope for Future Generations
- Impact Research and Development Organization/Amref Health Africa/Kenya Malaria Youth Corps
- Integrate Health
- International Civil Society Organisation Inventions
- Janna Health Foundation
- JonCaring Foundation
- Kuboresha-Africa Limited
- LiveWell Initiative LWI
- Malaria Youth Corps/DRC
- Network of Journalists Living with HIV (JONEHA)
- Nigeria Health Watch
- ONE
- ONG: ADET
- Pandemic Action Network (PAN)
- Plateforme des OSC pour la Promotion de la Vaccination et le Renforcement du Système de Santé au Cameroun
- Project HOPE
- Resilience Action Network Africa (RANA)
- Resolve To Save Lives
- SAYAP AFRICA
- Sharing Strategies
- Society for Conservation and Sustainability of Energy and Environment in Nigeria (SOCSEEN)
- Spark Street Advisors
- Star Ladies of Hope
- Stop TB Cameroon
- STOPAIDS
- Sustainable Impact for the Development of Africa (SIDAF)
- TBPeople Cameroon
- Teen aid
- The Leprosy Mission Great Britain
- The Society For Children Orphaned By AIDS Inc. (SOCOBA)
- Treatment Action Group
- WACI Health
- Wakambadhala Kusindi Youth Group
- World Vision UK
- Wote Youth Development Projects CBO
- Youth and Women for Change in Eswatini
- Youth Network for Positive Change-YOUNETPO
- Zero Hunger Champion in United Nations World Food Programme
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¹ https://worldhealthorg.shinyapps.io/mpx_global/#3_Global_situation_update
² POLITICO reports a 3 million dose donation from Japan, DW via AFP reports 3.5 million doses, and others have reported that DRC requested 2 million doses from Japan); in a 15 August press conference, Minister Takemi confirmed Japan was working to supply DRC with vaccines and injection needles in collaboration with the government of the DRC, WHO, and other partners.
