| No images? Click here  Thursday, 5 June 2025 WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the IHR Emergency Committee meeting regarding the upsurge of mpox 2024 – 5 June 20255 June 2025 Chair, Professor Dimie Ogoina, Our vice-chair, rapporteur, committee members, and advisors. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us once again. I would especially like to thank representatives of Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo who have joined us today. And thank you to all countries who have provided updates ahead of this meeting. Thank you for your commitment to transparency. Since the beginning of 2024, more than 37 000 confirmed mpox cases have been reported to WHO from 25 countries, including 125 deaths. The DRC accounts for 60% of confirmed cases and 40% of deaths, followed by Uganda, Burundi and Sierra Leone, which has been experiencing a surge in cases since the beginning of this year. In addition to confirmed cases, the DRC continues to report between 2000 and 3000 suspected cases each week. Since you last met in February, seven additional countries have reported outbreaks for the first time: Albania, Ethiopia, Malawi, North Macedonia, South Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania and Togo. WHO continues to work in all affected countries, with the Africa CDC and other partners, under our shared continental response plan. Together, we have expanded surveillance systems significantly; We have supported the development of laboratory capacity and genomic sequencing; In DRC alone, over 500 community health workers have been trained to support case detection, referral, risk communication and community engagement. We have significantly strengthened infection prevention, clinical care and WASH capacities across mpox-affected countries; And we continue to work closely with the Africa CDC, Gavi, CEPI and UNICEF under the mpox Access and Allocation Mechanism. So far, 1.9 million vaccine doses have been allocated to 13 countries, and 11 countries have received doses. Japan and the United Arab Emirates have delivered an additional 1.9 million doses bilaterally to affected countries. A total of 2.9 million doses are on the ground, and 724 000 doses have been administered. So there has been progress, but we also face significant challenges. Resource constraints are affecting our collective ability to effectively maintain surveillance and response activities; Cuts in funding for HIV programmes are hampering detection and control in key vulnerable groups; Capacities for risk communication are stretched and unevenly maintained; And while disease trends in eastern DRC have been showing signs of decline over the last few months, the escalation of conflict and a worsening humanitarian situation risks undoing the gains we have made. Looking forward, the focus must remain on enhancing subnational preparedness, fostering community ownership and ensuring cross-border coordination, especially in regions with mobile and vulnerable populations. To sustain the achievements we have made, we need to ensure adequate capacity to detect and respond to outbreaks; We need strategic and targeted vaccination; And we need all partners and donors to support the global Mpox Global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, by providing the US$147 million needed. We must maintain our collective focus, sense of urgency, and continue to build on the progress made. Once again, thank you for committing your time and expertise to this very important process. I look forward to your advice. I thank you.
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