President Ramaphosa Concerned Over Surging Mpox Cases In AU Region

President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his concern about how fast Mpox is spreading across the African Union (AU) region. Both the number of cases and deaths are rising quickly, showing a problematic change in the pattern of the outbreak.

There have been 17,541 reported cases of Mpox (2,822 confirmed and 14,719 suspected) and 517 deaths across 13 AU Member States since the beginning of 2024. This week, three more countries reported possible Mpox cases, bringing the total number of affected countries to 16.

The president shared his concerns over the weekend while acting as the AU Champion for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPPR).

"In my role as the AU Champion on PPPR, I have been closely monitoring the evolving Mpox situation, regularly briefed by the Director-General of Africa CDC and PPPR Commission," Ramaphosa said, SA News reported. "Alarmingly, the number of reported cases in 2024 has surged by 160% compared to the same period in 2023."

Ramaphosa said he fully supports the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (Africa CDC) decision to declare Mpox a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security.

The president noted that this move will strengthen the response to the outbreak by allowing Africa CDC to lead and coordinate efforts at all levels, from local communities to international partners.

He also shared that this declaration would encourage AU Heads of State and Government to act quickly and gather the necessary financial and technical resources. Ramaphosa praised the Permanent Representatives Committee for their quick action in providing $10.4 million from the COVID-19 Fund to help with the Mpox outbreak response.

Ramaphosa urged AU policy groups to quickly finalize the framework for the African Epidemic Fund, which was approved by Heads of State at the 2023 AU Assembly, by the end of August 2024.

He also called on AU Member States to boost their funding, lead their national responses to the Mpox outbreak, and improve their capabilities. These improvements should include building capacity, risk communication, community engagement, case detection, contact tracing, and cross-border surveillance.

"This is also an opportunity to call on the international community to finalize a fair and equitable Pandemic Agreement – a duty that must be pursued with urgency and a spirit of equity," he said. "By fostering global partnerships, we can accelerate Africa's response and ensure that all nations, regardless of economic status, have fair access to the resources needed to protect their populations."

As the AU Champion, Ramaphosa promised to work closely with his colleagues to secure political support and raise funds for the continental response to Mpox. The president stressed that his goal is to help prevent the outbreak from becoming a regional or global pandemic.

The president also welcomed the World Health Organization's (WHO) declaration of Mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). However, he noted that this PHEIC "must be different and correct the unfair treatment from the previous one declared in 2022, where vaccines and therapeutics were developed and made available primarily to Western countries, with little support extended to Africa".