PREMIUM TIMES
The Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is developing a Continental Response Plan to guide the response to the Mpox outbreak in African countries.
The Africa CDC Director-General, Jean Kaseya, disclosed this during an online media briefing on Tuesday.
According to him, the plan is being worked on, and a draft of the document should be submitted to relevant groups, such as the Emergency Response Consultancy Group, for their input by Wednesday.
Mr Kaseye said that the plan has two major components. One is the individual response plan of African countries affected by the outbreak of the zoonotic disease, and the other centres on the response plan obtained from partners providing technical support.
He said these partners play a crucial role in “responding to the outbreak of Mpox in the country.”
“This is not just about Africa CDC. It is also about other partners within and outside the continent who have joined the effort to curb the outbreak.
“Mpox is not an African disease. This is wrong. It is a public health concern that is affecting countries around the world,” he said.
According to Mr Kaseye, some of these partners are Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the World Food Program (WFP), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Mr Kaseye also noted the Continental Response Plan will combine the response plans developed by the 13 countries with suspected and confirmed cases of Mpox.
He said the continental plan will also provide an avenue for the public agency to review the quality of the response plan developed by each country and support the development of a better plan.
“This will help us identify the needs of each country and the quality of the plan developed by each country,” he said.
The continental plan includes the plan of all 13 countries.
“By tomorrow (Wednesday), we are finalising the first draft and sharing it with relevant authorities for their input. Once we get their input, the plan will be presented during the governing board meeting of Africa CDC to validate the plan,” Mr Kaseye.
“Africa CDC is calling for the committee of heads of state in the second week of September. The committee will also involve some key partners at the highest level. It will be an opportunity for our head of state to endorse the Continental Response Plan.”
