By Linda Naa Deide Aryeetey
Accra, Nov. 2, GNA – Years of neglect of mpox in West and Central Africa have contributed to two preventable global health emergencies, a new report says.
The report, titled “Hiding in Plain Sight: Mpox and the Cost of Neglecting Known Threats”, said inadequate investment in surveillance, community health systems, vaccines and diagnostics had allowed the disease to spread beyond its traditional endemic regions.
The report was authored by Dr Els Torreele, a global health researcher and innovation expert, and other members of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR).
It said mpox, previously reported mainly in West and Central Africa and largely associated with contact with infected animals, had spread to dozens of countries, with sustained human-to-human transmission making people an increasingly important reservoir of the virus.
The emergence of new viral variants had heightened risks to populations and placed additional pressure on already overstretched health systems, it said.
Madam Helen Clark, Co-Chair of the Independent Panel, said the international community must stop overlooking sporadic diseases with epidemic potential.
“Mpox was neglected at our peril, preventable health emergencies are a sign of failure, they happen when community health care is neglected, signals are missed, and pathogens are allowed to spread beyond their original habitats,” she said.
The report traced the failure to contain mpox to missed opportunities to strengthen surveillance, research and response systems in endemic countries before the disease became an international emergency.
It said vaccines and treatments with potential effectiveness against mpox were available before 2022 through investments in health security and biodefence research, but were deployed widely only after the disease spread internationally.
“Before 2022, smallpox vaccines and treatments with potential effectiveness against mpox were already available through investments in health security and biodefence research, but these tools were deployed widely only after the disease spread internationally in 2022, when high-income countries were also affected,” the report stated.
The report said vaccines had not been made available in the original endemic regions, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which had been reporting about 2,000 suspected cases annually.
It said earlier intervention could have prevented mpox from becoming a global health concern.
“With 145 countries reporting mpox in the last four years and many outbreaks of sustained human-to-human transmission, the opportunity to stop it locally was missed,” it stated.
The report said vaccines were deployed in Africa only after a new viral subtype emerged, cross-border transmission increased and a second Public Health Emergency of International Concern was declared in August 2024.
Even then, vaccine supplies reached affected countries in phases, making their impact on the 2024–2025 outbreaks uncertain. An mpox vaccine stockpile was announced only in August 2026, the report said.
Limited diagnostic capacity was another major obstacle to controlling the disease.
“In the DRC, only about one-third of suspected cases could be confirmed through testing, limiting the ability of health authorities to identify infections and track transmission,” the report stated.
Dr Joanne Liu, a member of the Independent Panel, said the experience reflected lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Tools like vaccines were not prioritised for the people who needed them most, and the one tool that would have made the biggest difference, an affordable, rapid diagnostic test that could be used in communities still does not exist,” she said.
The report said 82 countries had confirmed more than 14,000 mpox cases in 2026.
Madagascar, which had never previously recorded the disease, was experiencing the world’s largest outbreak of the year, with more than 3,400 cases and 22 deaths as of mid-August.
It also reported almost 3,800 confirmed cases in the European Union and European Economic Area over the preceding 12 months, with evidence of local transmission.
The report called for sustained investment in community health systems, affordable diagnostic tests, strategic vaccine stockpiles and research led by affected regions.
It estimated that an additional US$15 billion annually in international financing was needed to close the global pandemic preparedness gap.
The authors urged governments to shift from emergency-driven responses to sustained investment in prevention, preparedness and response, warning that failure to manage known diseases would leave the world vulnerable to future pandemics.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey