By Ayomide Otitoju
In a significant move, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners have activated the Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC) for the first time to assist countries facing outbreaks of mpox. This initiative aims to enhance the response to health emergencies and foster collaboration among nations and health emergency networks.
Established in 2023, GHEC comprises a group of professionals focused on strengthening health emergency responses. It provides support for countries’ health emergency workforces, facilitates the deployment of experts, and promotes networking among technical leaders. The activation of GHEC comes in the wake of WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declaring mpox a public health emergency of international concern on August 14, 2024.
Dr. Mike Ryan, Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, emphasized the importance of the GHEC in bolstering efforts against mpox outbreaks. “WHO and partners are supporting the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other affected nations to implement an integrated approach that includes case detection, contact tracing, targeted vaccination, and infection prevention,” he stated.
As of now, eighteen African countries have reported mpox cases this year, and the rapid spread of the clade 1b variant to at least two other regions has raised alarms about the potential for further transmission.
In collaboration with the International Association of National Public Health Institutes, GHEC is assessing emergency workforce capacities in eight countries impacted by the outbreak, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi. The assessment has identified 22 critical areas for improvement, such as epidemiology, laboratory capabilities, and community engagement.
As of October 17, WHO has deployed 56 experts to the affected countries, comprising WHO personnel and specialists from the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and the African Volunteers Health Corps (AVoHC-SURGE). Dr. Abdou Salam Gueye, Regional Emergency Director for WHO’s Regional Office for Africa, highlighted the importance of mobilizing local professionals: “By utilizing trained responders from within the continent, we ensure that our interventions are timely and contextually relevant.”
Furthermore, GOARN is actively mapping the support provided by various partners to affected countries, encompassing expert deployment, supplies, financial assistance, and capacity-building efforts.
On October 22, GHEC convened technical leaders from affected nations and those with previous experience in handling mpox outbreaks to discuss effective control measures, share best practices, and coordinate efforts to combat the ongoing outbreak.
