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11/28/2024   WHO News

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) is hereby transmitting the report of the second meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Emergency Committee (Committee) regarding the upsurge of mpox 2024, held on Friday 22 November 2024, from 12:00 to 17:00 CET.

Notwithstanding some progress towards controlling the spread of mpox resulting from national and international response efforts, the Committee noted the rising number and continuing geographic spread of mpox cases, especially those due to monkeypox virus clade Ib infection; the operational challenges in the field in need of stronger national commitments; as well as the need to mount and sustain a cohesive response across countries and partners. The Committee advised that the event continues to meet the criteria of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) and provided its views regarding the proposed temporary recommendations.

The WHO Director-General expresses his most sincere gratitude to the Chair, Members, and Advisors of the Committee. The WHO Director-General concurs with the advice of the Committee that the event continues to constitute a PHEIC for the reasons detailed in the proceedings of the meeting below, and issues revised temporary recommendations in relation to this PHEIC, which are presented at the end of this document.

Proceedings of the meeting

Sixteen (16) Members of, and two Advisors to, the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Emergency Committee (Committee) were convened by teleconference, via Zoom, on Friday, 22 November 2024, from 12:00 to 17:00 CET. Thirteen (13) of the 16 Committee Members, and one of the two Advisors to the Committee participated in the meeting. 

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) delegated the WHO Deputy Director-General to welcome the Committee Members and Advisors, and invited Government Officials designated to present to the Committee on behalf of the five invited States Parties – Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

The WHO Deputy Director-General recalled that the determination of the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), on 14 August 2024, was a call for national authorities to invest energetically to prevent and control the transmission of monkeypox virus (MPXV) with particular focus on clade Ib, to reduce the risk of international spread of mpox, and for the international community to act cohesively and intensely with all the tools and resources available for the prevention and control of mpox. 

Highlighting the evolution of mpox globally (see details under the heading “Session open to representatives of States Parties invited to present their views), the WHO Deputy Director-General stressed that, since the Committee last met in August 2024, the situation has become more complex and continues to require a coordinated international response, including in all countries and especially in those with limited number of mpox cases before wider spread of disease may occur. He outlined the constructive collaborations and efforts of WHO and numerous partners, including the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), to scale up the response at regional, national and sub-national levels; and the establishment, by WHO and partners, of the Access and Allocation Mechanism (AAM) as part of the interim Medical Countermeasures Network endorsed by WHO Member States, to support the equitable allocation and distribution of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. The WHO Deputy Director-General outlined a number of challenges States Parties are facing to interrupt the transmission of mpox, including a number of concurrent health emergencies and competing health priorities, hence requiring political commitment and resources to further scale up targeted and integrated interventions at local levels. 

The Representative of the Office of Legal Counsel briefed the Members and Advisors on their roles and responsibilities and identified the mandate of the Committee under the relevant articles of the IHR. The Ethics Officer from the Department of Compliance, Risk Management, and Ethics provided the Members and Advisors with an overview of the WHO Declaration of Interests process. The Members and Advisors were made aware of their individual responsibility to disclose to WHO, in a timely manner, any interests of a personal, professional, financial, intellectual or commercial nature that may give rise to a perceived or actual conflict of interest. They were additionally reminded of their duty to maintain the confidentiality of the meeting discussions and the work of the Committee. Each Member and Advisor was surveyed, with no conflicts of interest identified.

The meeting was handed over to the Chair who introduced the objectives of the meeting, which were to provide views to the WHO Director-General on whether the event continues to constitute a PHEIC, and if so, to provide views on the potential proposed temporary recommendations.  

Session open to representatives of States Parties invited to present their views

The WHO Secretariat presented an overview of the global epidemiological situation of mpox, all MPXV clades included, highlighting that, since the Committee last met in August 2024, MPXV transmission has been reported in all six WHO Regions. While the WHO African Region represents the largest contributor to the global increase of mpox cases due to clades Ia, Ib and IIa, mpox in the WHO Western Pacific Region has been increasing due to an MPXV clade IIb outbreak among men who have sex with men reported from Australia.

With regards to the spread of MPXV clade Ib in the WHO African Region, since the Committee last met, the WHO Secretariat presented that the foci of transmission are in the DRC, with clade Ib now detected in six provinces, including in the urban area of the capital Kinshasa. MPXV clade Ib has also spread in neighbouring countries, including in Burundi (2,083 mpox cases, growing in the urban areas of Bujumbura and Gitega) and Uganda (582 mpox cases, growing in the capital Kampala) with established sustained community transmission; and Kenya (17 mpox cases) and Rwanda (37 mpox cases) with clusters of mpox cases (data reported as of 19 November 2024).  

Additionally, travel-related cases of MPXV clade Ib infection, mostly epidemiologically linked to the above-mentioned countries, have been detected in eight countries in the following WHO Regions – African Region (Zambia and Zimbabwe); Americas Region (United States of America); European Region (Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, transmission within the household of the case occurred); and South-East Asian Region (India and Thailand).  

Available data from the sub-national level in the DRC shows that the observed dynamics of transmission of MPXV clade Ib are changing over time and are diverse across affected health zones. Since MPXV clade Ib was first detected in September 2023 in South Kivu province in the health zone of Kamituga, the most affected age group has shifted from adults, where transmission was first observed and appears to have been sustained by contact within commercial sexual networks, to younger age groups, including children, and sustained by household and likely broader community transmission through close physical contact.

The same epidemiological characteristics are being observed in the capital Kinshasa, where the outbreak is largely driven by transmission between adults, but where steadily more children are being reported as a result of close physical contact within households and/or the community. It is worth noting that, regardless of the circulating MPXV clades, adults of 50 years of age or older are less affected, likely due to the immunity conferred by prior vaccination against smallpox.

The WHO Secretariat indicated that information about mortality in confirmed cases of mpox, regardless of the MPXV clade, is limited. In the DRC, based on routine syndromic surveillance data, deaths attributed to mpox are predominant in rural areas known to be endemic for MPXV clade Ia – with variable case fatality rates observed across those areas, but being consistently higher in children under 5 years of age. 

Outside the DRC, deaths associated with MPXV clade Ib infection have been reported in Burundi (1), Uganda (2) and Kenya (1).

The WHO Secretariat presented the assessed risk by MPXV clades and further expressed in terms of overall public health risk where any given clade/s is/are circulating, and risk of national and international spread, as: Clade Ib – high public health risk and high risk of national/international spread; Clade Ia – high public health risk and moderate risk of national/international spread; Clade II – moderate public health risk and moderate risk of national/international spread.

The WHO Secretariat subsequently provided an update on actions WHO has taken, with States Parties and partners, following the issuance of the temporary recommendations on 19 August 2024, the extension of the standing recommendations for mpox, and the WHO appeal: mpox public health emergency 2024, and based on the WHO Mpox global strategic preparedness and response plan, September 2024-February 2025; the Africa CDC-WHO Mpox Continental Preparedness and Response Plan for Africa, September 2024-February 2025; A coordinated research roadmap – Mpox virus - Immediate research next steps to contribute to control the outbreak (2024).  

In addition to the overview provided by the WHO Deputy Director-General, the WHO Secretariat provided detailed updates on progress and challenges related to the following areas of the response, including: collaborative surveillance, safe and scalable clinical care, community protection, access to countermeasures, including diagnostics and vaccines (over 1.1 million doses of MVA-BN vaccine allocated to date), operations (deployment of human resources, dispatch of personal protective equipment, diagnostic tests, etc. to the field), funding (of the 87.4 million USD needed as per WHO appeal, 40.6 million USD were received or pledged; 3.5 million USD were released from the WHO's Contingency Funds for Emergencies), and coordination with partners. 

Representatives of Burundi, the DRC, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda updated the Committee on the mpox epidemiological situation in their countries and their current response efforts, needs and challenges. Mpox vaccine is currently being used in the DRC and Rwanda, and there are plans to use it in Kenya and Uganda, whereas vaccination against mpox is currently not encompassed by the response strategy of Burundi.

Members of, and the Advisor to, the Committee then engaged in questions and answers with the WHO Secretariat and invited Government Officials, on the issues and challenges presented.

The determination that the upsurge of mpox constitutes a PHEIC in August 2024 was regarded by States Parties attending the meeting as having boosted domestic response efforts and the mobilization of international resource to support those efforts. 

However, the lack of information at national and local levels, including the suboptimal implementation of response interventions, was regarded as an obstacle to progress in controlling and interrupting MPXV transmission. Examples to that effect related to the proportion of suspected mpox cases tested; the time from diagnosis to subsequent isolation of mpox cases; the trend of mpox test positivity rate; the proportion of contacts that have completed the follow-up period; the proportion of mpox cases with an unknown epidemiological link, and trend thereof; and challenges with mpox vaccination implementation. Challenges with vaccination implementation include: the current vaccination coverage in countries with mpox vaccines, including in targeted at risk groups; the proportion of contacts that have received mpox vaccine; the time elapsed between the last exposure of an unvaccinated contact; and the administration of mpox vaccine.

The observed multifaceted dynamics of the spread of MPXV was discussed at length in terms of (a) the expansion of transmission from within known commercial sexual networks, and subsequently within households, and to the wider community with sustained transmission; (b) opportunities to refine the risk assessment approach, considering lower geographical levels and vulnerable subsets of population; and (c) the potential for predictive mathematical modeling approaches to anticipate MPXV spread both within countries and internationally.

Aspects related to the use of mpox vaccines as part of the response were discussed, including, but not limited to, (a) progress with global and domestic regulatory issues; (b) challenges for use of mpox vaccines in infants, children, adolescents, and immunocompromised persons (as per WHO vaccine position paper, August 2024); (c) need to implement vaccination as part of an integrated targeted response to interrupt MPXV transmission in hotspots at the local level, as opposed to a broader geographical use of the vaccine; (d) uncertainties related to the effectiveness of post-exposure use of the vaccine; (e) possible inclusion of studies to assess vaccine effectiveness in vaccine deployment plans; and (f) approaches to overcome vaccine hesitancy. 

The coordination between Africa CDC and WHO in supporting States Parties’ response efforts in implementing the Africa CDC-WHO Mpox Continental Preparedness and Response Plan for Africa, September 2024-February 2025 was reported as collaborative, constructive and progressive. WHO and Africa CDC have a joint continental incident management team based in Kinshasa, DRC. A significant achievement of this coordination is the alignment of the vaccine allocation process and the AAM with the Technical Review Committee and the vaccination group within the Continental IMST. 

Deliberative session

Following the session open to invited States Parties, the Committee reconvened in a closed session to examine the questions in relation to whether the event constitutes a PHEIC or not, and if so, to consider the temporary recommendations drafted by the WHO Secretariat in accordance with IHR provisions.

The Chair reminded the Committee Members of their mandate and recalled that a PHEIC is defined in the IHR as an “extraordinary event, which constitutes a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease, and potentially requires a coordinated international response”.

The Committee was unanimous in expressing the views that the ongoing upsurge of mpox still meets the criteria of a PHEIC and that the Director-General be advised accordingly.

The overarching consideration underpinning the advice of the Committee is the limited effectiveness and efficiency of the response implemented at local level, particularly in Burundi and the DRC, to interrupt MPXV transmission – specifically in terms of surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, contact tracing, and community education and engagement. If duly and systematically implemented early on, such interventions could substantially contribute to the interruption of transmission both locally and globally, especially considering that access to mpox vaccine is often challenging, and the strategic use of vaccine has yet to be fully implemented. 

On that basis, and further elaborating upon issues addressed during the question and answers session, the Committee considered that:

The event is “extraordinary” because of (a) the increased number of mpox cases and geographical expansion of foci of MPXV clade Ib transmission within States Parties; (b) the evolving dynamics of MPXV clade Ib transmission – from within known commercial sexual networks, to within households, to the wider community – resulting in the infection of broader age-groups, and/or vulnerable population groups, and/or co-infection and co-circulation with other MPXV clades and/or pathogens, and, hence, generating uncertainties and unknowns in terms of morbidity and mortality, and, consequently, leading to new response challenges, including regarding clinical care; (c) the risk of MPVX clade Ib mutations in the context of sustained community transmission, resulting in new dynamics of transmission and/or associated with new morbidity and mortality patterns (e.g. changes of transmissibility and/or virulence); (d) the ongoing prevalence of MPXV clade Ia infections in DRC with new foci of sexual network disease transmission in the capital Kinshasa.

The event “constitutes a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease” because of (a) the documented recent exportation of MPVX clade Ib cases from States Parties where that clade is circulating to others within the WHO African Region and at least three additional WHO Regions; (b) the epidemiological link of exported MPVX clade Ib cases in the areas where exposure occurred is not known; (c) the risk that MPXV, and clade Ib in particular, is introduced in States Parties that may not comply with reporting requirement to WHO under IHR provisions, and/or may not have the capacities to implement response interventions.

The event “requires a coordinated international response” through (a) intensified engagement of international partners with national authorities to (i) raise the profile of mpox as public health priority, and (ii) strengthen prevention and response operations at the local level through the deployment of dedicated human resources and supplies; (b) mobilization of financial resources and their effective and efficient use; (c) the facilitation of equitable access to mpox including vaccines and diagnostics, including with the view to build capacity for the local and/or regional production of vaccine in the mid- to longer term.  

The Committee indicated the need to start elaborating on the considerations that would inform their future advice to terminate the PHEIC while assessing the three criteria defining a PHEIC. 

The Committee subsequently considered the draft of the temporary recommendations proposed by the WHO Secretariat

Notwithstanding that temporary recommendations constitute non-binding advice to States Parties, and noting that it was the first time that a set of temporary recommendations included one related to reporting on the implementation thereof, the WHO Secretariat presented the structure and outcome of the survey to that effect administered to, and completed online by the five States Parties to which the temporary recommendations issued on 19 August 2024 were directed to (Burundi, the DRC, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda). Provided that the Director-General would determine that the event still constitutes a PHEIC, and issue temporary recommendations accordingly, the Committee formulated suggestions to the WHO Secretariat to improve the survey by encompassing the local dimension of the response, and to use the outcome of the survey for shaping the proposed temporary recommendations. 

The Committee then considered the revised set of temporary recommendations proposed by the WHO Secretariat, should the Director-Generals determine that the event still constitutes a PHEIC. The Committee had received the proposed set ahead of the meeting and, noting the proposal to extend most of the temporary recommendations issued on 19 August 2024, the Committee formulated suggestions regarding the definition of “hotspot”, referred to in some of the recommendations. 

The Committee indicated that it would be giving further consideration to the proposed temporary recommendations while finalizing the report of the meeting.

Conclusion

The Committee reiterated its concern regarding the continuing spread of MPXV and uncertainties ensuing, and the effectiveness and efficiency of the response at the local level. The Committee underscored the need for the sustained commitment by national authorities in focusing efforts and resources at the local level to interrupt MPXV transmission, as well as the role of coordinated international cooperation in supporting and complementing such efforts in a synergistic manner. Therefore, the Committee considers that the determination by the WHO Director-General that the upsurge of mpox still constitutes a PHEIC would be warranted. 

The WHO Deputy Director-General expressed his gratitude to the Committee’s Officers, its Members and Advisor and closed the meeting.

 

---------

Temporary recommendations

These temporary recommendations are issued to States Parties experiencing the transmission of monkeypox virus (MPXV), including, but not limited to, those where there is sustained community transmission, and where there are clusters of cases or sporadic travel-related cases of MPXV clade Ib.[1]

They are intended to be implemented by those States Parties in addition to the current  standing recommendations for mpox, which will be extended until 20 August 2025. 

In the context of the global efforts to prevent and control the spread of mpox disease outlined in the  WHO Strategic framework for enhancing prevention and control of mpox- 2024-2027, the aforementioned  standing recommendations apply to all States Parties

 All current WHO interim technical guidance can be accessed on this page of the WHO website. WHO evidence-based guidance has been and will continue to be updated in line with the evolving situation, updated scientific evidence, and WHO risk assessment to support States Parties in the implementation of the WHO Strategic Framework for enhancing mpox prevention and control. 

Pursuant to Article 3 Principle of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), the implementation of these temporary recommendations, as well as the standing recommendations for mpox, by States Parties shall be with full respect for the dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons, in line with the principles set out in Article 3 of the IHR. 

===

[1] Note:  The text in backets next to each temporary recommendation indicates the status with respect to the set of temporary recommendations issued on 19 August 2024. The following temporary recommendation issued on that occasion was terminated – “Prepare for the introduction of mpox vaccine for emergency response through convening of national immunization technical advisory groups, briefing of national regulatory authorities, preparing national policy mechanisms to apply for vaccines through available mechanisms”.

Emergency coordination

  • Secure political commitment and engagement to intensify prevention and response efforts, including resource allocation, in hotspots - defined as the lowest operational level reporting mpox cases in the prior 4 weeks (NEW);
  • Establish or enhance national and local emergency prevention and response coordination arrangements (EXTENDED, with re-phrasing);
  • Establish or enhance the coordination of all partners and stakeholders engaged in or supporting prevention and response activities through cooperation, including by introducing accountability mechanisms (EXTENDED, with re-phrasing);
  • Establish a mechanism to constantly monitor the effectiveness of prevention and response measures implemented in the hotspots, so that such measures can be adjusted as needed (NEW);
  • Engage and strengthen partner organizations for collaboration and support, including humanitarian actors in contexts with insecurity or areas with internal or refugee population displacements and in hosting communities in insecure areas (EXTENDED, with rephrasing);

Collaborative surveillance and laboratory diagnostics

  • Enhance surveillance, by increasing the sensitivity of the approaches adopted and ensuring comprehensive geographical coverage (EXTENDED);
  • Expand access to accurate, affordable and available diagnostics to test for mpox, including through strengthening arrangements for the transport of samples, the decentralization of testing and arrangements to differentiate MPXV clades and conduct genomic sequencing (EXTENDED, with re-phrasing);
  • Identify, monitor and support contacts of people with mpox to prevent onward transmission (EXTENDED);
  • Scale up efforts to thoroughly investigate cases and outbreaks of mpox to understand the modes of transmission, and prevent its onward transmission to contacts and communities (EXTENDED, with re-phrasing);
  • Report to WHO suspected, probable and confirmed cases of mpox in a timely manner and on a weekly basis (EXTENDED);

Safe and scalable clinical care

  • Provide clinical, nutritional and psychosocial support for patients with mpox, including, where appropriate and possible, isolation in care centres and materials and guidance for home-based care (EXTENDED, with re-phrasing);
  • Develop and implement a plan to expand access to optimised supportive clinical care for all patients with mpox, including children, patients living with HIV, and pregnant women. This includes offering HIV tests to adult patients who do not know their HIV status and to children as appropriate, with linkages to HIV treatment and care services when indicated; and the prompt identification and effective management of endemic co-infections, such as malaria, varicella zoster and measles viruses, and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among cases linked to sexual contact (EXTENDED, with re-phrasing);
  • Strengthen health and care workers’ capacity, knowledge and skills in the clinical and infection and prevention and control pathways – screening, diagnosis, isolation, to discharge of patients, including post discharge follow up for suspected and confirmed mpox –, and provide health and care workers with personal protective equipment (MODIFIED);
  • Enhance infection prevention and control (IPC) measures and availability of water sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and waste management services and infrastructure in healthcare facilities and treatment centers to ensure quality healthcare service delivery and protection of health and care workers and patients (NEW);

International traffic

  • Establish or strengthen cross-border collaboration arrangements for surveillance, management and support of suspected cases and contacts of mpox, the provision of information to travellers and conveyance operators, without resorting to general travel and trade restrictions unnecessarily impacting local, regional or national economies (EXTENDED, with re-phrasing); 

Vaccination

  • Prepare for the integrated targeted use of vaccine for “Phase 1-Stop the outbreak” (as defined in the WHO  “Mpox global strategic preparedness and response plan” (2024)) through identification of hotspots to interrupt sustained community transmission (NEW);
  • Initiate plans for vaccination in the context of an integrated response in hotspots, targeting people at high risk of infection (e.g., contacts of cases of all ages, including sexual contacts, and health and care workers, etc.). This entails a targeted integrated response, including active surveillance and contact tracing, the agile adaptation of immunization strategies and plans to the local context of hotspots; the availability of vaccines and supplies; the proactive community engagement, to generate and sustain demand for and trust in vaccination; and the collection of data during vaccination according to implementable research protocols (MODIFIED);

Community protection (MODIFIED)

  • Strengthen, particularly in hotspots, risk communication and community engagement systems with affected communities and local workforces for outbreak prevention, response and vaccination strategies, including through training, mapping high risk and vulnerable populations, social listening and community feedback, while managing misinformation. This entails, inter alia, communicating effectively the uncertainties regarding the natural history of mpox, updated information about mpox including information from ongoing clinical trials, about the efficacy of vaccines against mpox, and the uncertainties regarding duration of protection following vaccination (MODIFIED);
  • Address stigma and discrimination of any kind via meaningful community engagement, particularly in health services and during risk communication activities (EXTENDED);
  • Promote and implement IPC measures and basic WASH and waste management services in household settings, congregate settings (e.g. prisons, internally displaced persons and refugee camps, etc.), schools, points of entry and cross border transit areas (MODIFIED, and previously under “Safe and Scalable Clinical Care”);

Governance and financing

  • Galvanize and scale up national funding and explore external opportunities for targeted funding of prevention, readiness and response activities (EXTENDED);
  • Integrate mpox prevention and response measures in existing programmes aimed at prevention, control and treatment of other endemic diseases – especially HIV, as well as other STIs, malaria, tuberculosis, and COVID-19, as well as non-communicable diseases –, striving, to the extent possible, not to negatively impact their delivery (EXTENDED);

Addressing research gaps

Reporting on the implementation of temporary recommendations

  • Report quarterly to WHO on the status of, and challenges related to the implementation of these temporary recommendations, using a standardized tool and channels that will be made available by WHO (EXTENDED).


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The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners announced 10 projects that will receive almost US$ 2 million in grants to improve capacities in pathogen genomic surveillance. 

The catalytic grant fund was established by the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) to support partners from low- and middle-income countries to build their capacities in pathogen genomic analysis. This technology analyses the genetic code of viruses, bacteria and other disease-causing organisms to understand, in conjunction with other data, how easily they spread, and how sick they can make people. This data allows scientists and public health teams to track and respond to infectious disease threats, supports the development of vaccines and treatments and empowers countries to take faster decisions. 

The fund is hosted by the United Nations Foundation and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and Wellcome. 

“The IPSN catalytic grant fund has incredible potential to expand pathogen genomic surveillance for all, which we are already seeing through the first round of grantmaking,” said Sara Hersey, Director of Collaborative Intelligence at the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. “We are eager to support this work, which plays a key role in pandemic and epidemic prevention worldwide.” 

“The IPSN catalytic grant fund recipients will accelerate the benefits of pathogen genomic surveillance in low- and middle-income settings, as well as explore new applications for genomic surveillance, such as wastewater surveillance,” said Manisha Bhinge, Vice President of the Health Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation. “Pandemics and epidemics continue to be a global threat, further amplified by climate change. There is urgent need for equitable access to these tools and capabilities to protect lives in vulnerable communities.” 

One of the recipients, the American University of Beirut, will use wastewater surveillance to study how diseases spread in refugee populations, helping to ensure that people can quickly receive the care and support they need in migration settings. Another grantee, the Pasteur Institute of Laos, will use the funding to develop new methods to track avian flu in live-bird markets, a setting that is often overlooked but vital to millions of people worldwide. 

“If we are to protect vulnerable populations from the devastating impacts of disease, we first need to better understand how these pathogens spread, evolve and cause illness. These projects, developed in-country and tailored to local priorities, will generate new insights, knowledge and evidence that will help track global pathogen trends and inform evidence-based decisions to implement effective interventions” said Titus Divala, Interim Head of Epidemics and Epidemiology at Wellcome. 

The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil will use the funding to develop an open-source bioinformatics tool that can be used to conduct offline analyses. The tool will be piloted in Latin America with potential for global use, especially in low-resource settings. 

"SARS-CoV-2 and subsequent regional disease outbreaks have underscored the importance of access to genomic surveillance tools in all countries. The IPSN's catalytic investments will generate data and innovative methods to support the much-needed scale-up in LMICs," said Simon Harris of the Gates Foundation.    

The grantees were announced at the IPSN Global Partners Forum held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 21–22 November. The event was co-hosted by the WHO Regional Offices for South-East Asia and the Western Pacific and the Centre for Pathogen Genomics at the Doherty Institute in Australia.  

A second round of catalytic grant funds will be made available to IPSN members in 2025.  

Note to editors: 

Background on the IPSN 

The IPSN is a new global network of pathogen genomic actors, brought together by the WHO Pandemic Hub, to accelerate progress on the deployment of pathogen genomics, and improve public health decision-making. The IPSN envisions a world where every country has equitable access to sustained capacity for genomic sequencing and analytics as part of its public health surveillance system. It sets out to create a mutually supportive global network of genomic surveillance actors that amplifies and accelerates the work of its members to improve access and equity. 

More information about the network can be found here: www.who.int/initiatives/international-pathogen-surveillance-network

Background on the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence 

Forming part of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence (the WHO Pandemic Hub), facilitates a global collaboration of partners from multiple sectors that supports countries and stakeholders to address future pandemic and epidemic risks with better access to data, better analytical capacities, and better tools and insights for decision-making. With support from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, the WHO Pandemic Hub was established in September 2021 in Berlin, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which demonstrated weaknesses around the world in how countries detect, monitor and manage public health threats. 

More information about the WHO Pandemic Hub can be found here: https://pandemichub.who.int 

Background on the Centre for Pathogen Genomics 

The Centre for Pathogen Genomics at the Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne is an academic and training hub that supports new collaboration for translational research, genomics-informed infectious disease surveillance, and capacity building and training across the Asia-Pacific region. The Centre is underpinned by a portfolio of world-leading experts across pathogen genomics, public health, surveillance, bioinformatics, research, and capacity building and training, with years of experience in using cutting-edge technologies to address infectious diseases of national and global importance. 

Full list of the first IPSN catalytic grantees: 

  • National Institute for Health Research (Angola) - “Metagenomic surveillance for epidemic prevention in the DRC-Angola cross-border (FEEVIR Project)” 

  • Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) - “Development of an offline-capable computational framework for decentralised real-time untargeted pathogen genomic surveillance” 

  • National Public Health Laboratory (Cameroon) - “Integrating surveillance of malaria parasites into the National Public Health Laboratory genomics platform in Cameroon” 

  • Evangelical University of Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo) - “Generating genomic surveillance data of pathogens in Democratic Republic of Congo by extending the Mini-Lab with a Nanopore MinION sequencer” 

  • Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana (Ghana) - “Air Sampling Surveillance for Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring and Pathogens of Public Health Interest” 

  • Ashoka University, International Foundation for Research and Education, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (India) - “Quantitative mapping of environmental to clinical AMR via DNA barcoding” 

  • Pasteur Institute of Laos (Laos) - “Environmental genomic surveillance of avian Influenza A viruses in high-risk live-bird markets in Laos: an innovative sequencing approach” 

  • American University of Beirut (Lebanon) - “Wastewater Genomic Surveillance of Underestimated Viral Diarrheal Diseases among Vulnerable and Refugee Populations in Lebanon” 

  • Rwanda Biomedical Centre (Rwanda) - “Establishing a Rwandan One Health genomic surveillance network for endemic and emerging viral hemorrhagic fevers” 

  • Medical Research Institute Colombo (Sri Lanka) - “Piloting the application of pathogen genomics for public health and surveillance of foodborne disease” 

 

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11/25/2024   WHO News

 

Delegations from over 110 countries are coming together to produce national roadmaps and negotiate a joint declaration on oral health at the first-ever global oral health meeting organized by the World Health Organization (WHO). The declaration is expected to outline collective commitments from Member States to accelerate the implementation of the Global strategy and action plan on oral health 2023–2030.

Oral diseases are the most common noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide, affecting an estimated 3.5 billion people. Oral health is often misunderstood as just dental health, overlooking its broader importance. Oral diseases include dental caries or cavities, gum disease, tooth loss, oral cancer, noma and birth defects, affecting the mouth, teeth and facial structures that are essential for eating, breathing and speaking.

"Oral health is an important part of well-being, yet millions of people lack access to the services they need to protect and promote their oral health,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “WHO calls on all countries to prioritize prevention and expand access to affordable oral health services as part of their journey towards universal health coverage.”

This groundbreaking event, hosted by the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand, is part of the preparatory process for the fourth UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs (4th UN HLM on NCDs) in 2025. It aims to accelerate progress towards UHC, reaffirm political commitments made by Member States, and promote the implementation of the Global strategy and action plan on oral health 2023–2030.

“Oral health is a crucial aspect of overall health, and Thailand is proud to host this landmark global meeting,” said H.E. Mr Somsak Thepsutin, Minister of Public Health in Thailand. “Our commitment to universal health coverage includes ensuring that all citizens have access to quality oral health services and promoting prevention through our communities, reinforcing our dedication to improving health outcomes for everyone."

Key outcomes of the meeting – the Bangkok declaration on oral health – will inform the WHO Director-General’s report for the 4th UN HLM on NCDs in 2025, ensuring better recognition and integration of oral diseases in the future global NCD agenda.

The Declaration seeks to guarantee oral health as a fundamental human right. It recognizes that improving access to affordable oral health care cannot be achieved without integrating it into primary health care and UHC packages.

During the meeting, it is expected a new global coalition on oral health will be announced, aiming to foster partnerships to enhance the reach and effectiveness of oral health initiatives worldwide.

The WHO first global oral health meeting is being attended by delegations from Member States, UN agencies, international organizations, philanthropic foundations, civil society organizations and other stakeholders dedicated to advancing oral health, NCDs and UHC programmes.

 

Note to editors:

The Global strategy and action plan on oral health 2023–2030  provides a framework to address challenges in preventing and controlling oral diseases, promoting oral health within the NCD agenda and ensuring that essential services are accessible without financial strain as part of UHC initiative. It outlines six strategic objectives, 100 actions and 11 global targets aimed at reducing the burden of oral diseases, which contribute significantly to the global NCD crisis.

For more information and to watch the meeting, please visit WHO global oral health meeting event webpage.  

 

11/25/2024   Wired Science
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11/21/2024   WHO News

Since 7 October 2023, 47% of attacks on health care – 65 out of 137 – have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient in Lebanon, as of 21 November 2024.

This is a higher percentage than in any active conflict today across the globe – with nearly half of all attacks on health causing the death of a health worker.

In comparison, the global average is 13.3%, based on the SSA’s figures from 13 countries or territories that reported attacks in the same period, 7 October 2023–18 November 2024 – among them Ukraine, Sudan and the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). In the case of oPt, 9.6% of the total number of incidents has resulted in the death of at least one medical professional or patient.

According to the SSA, 226 health workers and patients were killed in Lebanon and 199 injured between 7 October 2023 and 18 November 2024.

In the same period, the SSA registered a combined total of 1401 attacks on health in oPt, Lebanon and Israel – 1196 in oPt, 137 in Lebanon and 68 in Israel.

Civilian health care has special protection

“These figures reveal yet again an extremely worrying pattern. It’s unequivocal – depriving civilians of access to lifesaving care and targeting health providers is a breach of international humanitarian law. The law prohibits the use of health facilities for military purposes – and even if that is the case, stringent conditions to taking action against them apply, including a duty to warn and to wait after warning,” said WHO Representative in Lebanon Dr Abdinasir Abubakar.

International humanitarian law states that health workers and facilities should always be protected in armed conflicts and never attacked. Health facilities must not be used for military purposes, and there should be accountability for the misuse of health facilities.

“There need to be consequences for not abiding by international law, and the principles of precaution, distinction and proportionality should always be adhered to. It’s been said before, indiscriminate attacks on health care are a violation of human rights and international law that cannot become the new normal, not in Gaza, not in Lebanon, nowhere,” said WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hanan Balkhy.

The majority of incidents in Lebanon impact health workers

The majority (68%) of incidents in Lebanon registered by the SSA impacted health personnel, a pattern seen repeatedly in the last few years, including in Gaza in the past year. In Lebanon, roughly 63% affected health transport and 26% affected health facilities.

Attacks on health care hit twice. First, when health workers lose their lives or when a health centre is obliterated, and again in the following weeks and months when the injured can’t be treated, those who are dependent on regular care don’t receive it and when children can’t be immunized. 

“Casualty numbers among health workers of this scope would debilitate any country, not just Lebanon. But what the numbers alone cannot convey is the long-term impact, the treatments for health conditions missed, women and girls prevented from accessing maternal, sexual and reproductive health services, undiagnosed treatable diseases and, ultimately, the lives lost because of the absence of health care. That is the impact that’s hard to quantify,” said Dr Abubakar.

1 in 10 hospitals in Lebanon directly impacted

The greater the blow to the health workforce, the weaker the longer-term ability of a country to recover from a crisis and deliver health care in a post-conflict setting

Lebanon is a lower middle-income country with a fairly advanced health system that’s been hit hard by multiple crises in recent years. After hostilities in Lebanon escalated in September 2024, the growing number of attacks on health have caused further strain on an already over-burdened system.

Today, the country’s health system is under extreme duress, with 15 out of 153 hospitals having ceased to operate, or only partially functioning. Nabatieh, as an example, one of Lebanon’s 8 governorates, has lost 40% of its hospital bed capacity.

“Attacks on health care of this scale cripple a health system when those whose lives depend on it need it the most. Beyond the loss of life, the death of health workers is a loss of years of investment and a crucial resource to a fragile country going forward,” Dr Balkhy concluded.

So far this year, between 1 January 2024 and 18 November 2024, a total of 1246 attacks on health care were registered globally, in 13 countries or territories, killing 730 health workers and patients and injuring 1255.

Note to editors

The Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA), established in 2017 by the World Health Organization, is an independent global monitoring mechanism whose goal is to collect reliable data on attacks on health care and to then identify patterns of violence that inform risk reduction and resilience measures so that health care is protected. The SSA also provides an evidence base for advocacy against attacks on health care.

11/19/2024   WHO News

The first-ever Investment Round of the World Health Organization (WHO) reached a culminating moment during the G20 Leaders' Summit today in Rio de Janeiro, chaired by the President of Brazil, H.E. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Heads of state and government at the G20 voiced strong support for a sustainably funded WHO, additional financial pledges were announced, and incoming G20 Chair South Africa pledged to maintain a focus in 2025 on sustainably financing the Organization. 

The support was reflected in the G20 Rio de Janeiro Leaders’ Declaration which said: “We reiterate the central coordinating role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the global health architecture, supported by adequate, predictable, transparent, flexible and sustainable financing. We support the conducting of the WHO Investment Round as an additional measure for financing the WHO activities.” 

The Investment Round is raising funds for WHO’s strategy for global health, the Fourteenth General Programme of Work, which can save an additional 40 million lives over the next four years. The Investment Round has succeeded in shifting WHO’s funding model so that it is more predictable, flexible and resilient.  

With the pledges received from Australia, Indonesia and Spain at the Leaders’ Summit, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shortly afterwards, WHO has now received pledges of US$ 1.7 billion. Including other signed funding agreements and expected funding from partnerships, WHO has funding of US$ 3.8 billion for the next four years. This means that WHO has raised 53% of the US$ 7.1 billion funding needed, successfully increasing predictability as compared to previous periods. WHO, Member States and partners will continue efforts to cover the remaining gap so the Organization can deliver on the strategy for 2025–2028.  

The Investment Round has also successfully broadened WHO’s donor base, improving its funding resilience. Since its launch in May, there have been 70 new pledges from Member States, and philanthropic and private sector donors, 39 of which are contributing voluntary funds for the first time. This is making WHO’s funding more diversified and thus marks a milestone in the Organization’s evolution. 

Seven of these new donors are low-income countries and 21 are middle-income countries, representing a shift in WHO’s funding base. This shift also demonstrates broad-based recognition of the need to invest in health and in WHO. 

Forty-six donors have so far pledged more flexible funding, compared to 35 in the last four years, increasing the ability of WHO to use the funds where they are most needed.  

Overall, the Investment Round means that WHO can work more efficiently, better plan the implementation of its Strategy and respond even better to crises. 

It is expected that a number of other governments and donors will pledge to the Investment Round in the coming months.  

Quotes: 

President of Brazil, H.E. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said: “The World Health Organization represents humanity’s greatest ideals. Investment over the next four years will be repaid many times over in well-being gained. It will set the foundation for future generations.” 

The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Olaf Scholz, said: “The work of the WHO benefits all of us. It needs reliable financing from a broad base. Every contribution counts."  

President of France, Emmanuel Macron, said: “The World Health Organization deserves our support, as our unique common, universal, compass to global health. It is the only organization technically and politically able to coordinate our global action, and edict universal norms and advice in the field of health. As part of this Investment Round, WHO is bringing to life a new Academy, open to all health practitioners around the world, to tackle one of the key investment priorities identified during the COVID crisis, which is human capacity in the health sector. In a nutshell, investing in WHO is investing in the strengthening of our response capacity to health crises and in particular to pandemics.”  

President of South Africa H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, who will Chair the G20 Presidency in 2025, said: “We are proud to carry the baton on from Brazil and continue to spotlight the importance of WHO and the need for sustainable financing towards the goal of health for all.” 

President of Indonesia, H.E Mr Prabowo Subianto, said: “I would like to announce that Indonesia is pleased to support international efforts. In this case, we are willing to commit US$ 30 million to bridge the funding gap on WHO activities.”

“The WHO Investment Round is about mobilizing the predictable, flexible funding WHO needs to save lives, prevent disease and make the world a healthier and safer place,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “I thank President Lula for his strong support for WHO and for hosting the culmination of the Investment Round during the G20 Leaders’ Summit, and I thank all donors for their contributions. I am grateful to President Ramaphosa for carrying the baton for sustainable financing for WHO into South Africa’s G20 Presidency next year.” 

Editor’s note:  

On 26 November 2024, a correction was made to the news release as noted below:

The sentence in the original news release read:

With the pledges received from Australia, Indonesia and Spain at the Leaders’ Summit, WHO has now received pledges of US$ 1.7 billion. Including other signed funding agreements and expected funding from partnerships, WHO has funding of US$ 3.8 billion for the next four years. This means that WHO has raised 53% of the US$ 7.1 billion funding needed, successfully increasing predictability as compared to 2020, when WHO had only 17% of funding secured for its previous strategy. WHO, Member States and partners will continue efforts to cover the remaining gap so the Organization can deliver on the strategy for 2025–2028.  

This was changed to:

With the pledges received from Australia, Indonesia and Spain at the Leaders’ Summit, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shortly afterwards, WHO has now received pledges of US$ 1.7 billion. Including other signed funding agreements and expected funding from partnerships, WHO has funding of US$ 3.8 billion for the next four years. This means that WHO has raised 53% of the US$ 7.1 billion funding needed, successfully increasing predictability as compared to previous periods. WHO, Member States and partners will continue efforts to cover the remaining gap so the Organization can deliver on the strategy for 2025–2028.  

An additional quote was added:

President of Indonesia, H.E Mr Prabowo Subianto, said: “I would like to announce that Indonesia is pleased to support international efforts. In this case, we are willing to commit US$ 30 million to bridge the funding gap on WHO activities.”

 

11/19/2024   WHO News

The World Health Organization (WHO) has granted Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for the LC16m8 mpox vaccine, making it the second mpox vaccine to be supported by WHO following the Director-General’s declaration of an mpox public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on 14 August 2024.

This decision is expected to facilitate increased and timely access to vaccines in communities where mpox outbreaks are surging. In 2024, cases have been reported across 80 countries, including 19 countries in Africa, based on data as of 31 October 2024. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the hardest-hit country, recorded a large majority of suspected cases – over 39 000 – as well as more than 1000 deaths.

Today’s move is particularly relevant as the Government of Japan has announced that it will donate 3.05 million doses of the LC16m8 vaccine, along with specialized inoculation needles, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is the largest donation package announced to date in response to the current mpox emergency.  

LC16m8 is a vaccine developed and manufactured by KM Biologics in Japan. The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for EUL of vaccines convened to discuss the outcome of the LC16m8 vaccine review, including the product and programmatic suitability assessments. The TAG recommended the vaccine for use in individuals over one year of age as a single dose vaccine, via a multiple puncture technique using a bifurcated needle.

“WHO emergency use listing of the LC16m8 vaccine against mpox marks a significant step in our response to the current emergency, providing a new option to protect all populations, including children,” said Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Health Products. “Vaccines are one of the important tools to help contain the outbreak as part of a comprehensive response strategy that also includes improved testing and diagnosis, treatment and care, infection prevention control, and engagement and education within affected communities.”

WHO’s assessment for EUL is based on information submitted by the manufacturer and review by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), the Japanese regulatory agency of record for this vaccine. The LC16m8 vaccine has been used in Japan during previous mpox outbreaks and was shown to be safe and effective, including in people with well-controlled HIV.

The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization reviewed available evidence and recommended the use of LC16m8 vaccine in outbreak settings in children and others with a documented high-risk of exposure to mpox.

However, minimally replicating vaccines, such as LC16m8, should not be used during pregnancy and in people who are immunocompromised. Immunocompromised persons include those with active cancer, transplant recipients, immunodeficiency, and active treatment with immunosuppressive agents. They also include people living with HIV with a current CD4 cell count of <200 cells µl.

The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety reviewed the updated safety data on LC16m8 on 20 September 2024 and recommended that healthcare workers are provided with training on the use of bifurcated needles to prevent injuries and adverse effects. In light of the changing epidemiology and emergence of new virus strains, it remains important to collect as much data as possible on vaccine safety and effectiveness in different contexts.

WHO continues to work closely with manufacturers, global partners and countries to ensure the availability and administration of safe and effective life-saving products.

On 13 September 2024, WHO prequalified the Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) vaccine and expanded its indication to include use in individuals aged 12 years and older on 8 October 2024.

 

Note to editors:

WHO Prequalification (PQ) and Emergency Use Listing (EUL) are mechanisms used to evaluate quality, safety and efficacy of medical products, such as vaccines, diagnostics and medicines, and product suitability for use in the contexts of low- and middle-income countries. Products receiving PQ or EUL support decision-making for international, regional and country procurement by UN and partner procurement agencies and Member States. PQ is based on the review of full set of quality, safety and efficacy data on medical products, including risk management plan and programmatic suitability. EUL is a risk benefit assessment to address urgent demands during public health emergencies based on available limited data where the benefits outweigh the risks.

11/16/2024   WHO News

As world leaders arrive in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the G20 Summit this weekend, the city’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue will be illuminated in the colour teal. The Brazilian advocates behind this effort are among many around the globe joining the World Health Organization (WHO) to mobilize efforts on a worldwide “Day of Action for Cervical Cancer Elimination.” Other countries are marking the day with campaigns to provide human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and screening, launching new health policies to align with the world’s first-ever effort to eliminate a cancer, and raising awareness in communities.

Four years ago to the day, 194 countries resolved to eliminate cervical cancer and WHO launched a global strategy. Since then, significant progress has been made. At least 144 countries have introduced the HPV vaccine, over 60 countries now include HPV testing in their cervical screening programmes and 83 countries include surgical-care services for cervical cancer in health-benefit packages.

“I thank all the health workers who are playing a critical role in this global effort,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “While we are making progress, we still face huge inequities, with women in low-income countries bearing most of the burden. Only with strong leadership and sustained investment can we achieve our shared goal of equitable access for communities most in need.”

Marking this campaign for the fourth  year, governments, partners and civil society are organizing various activities and commitments. These include:

  • Chile will announce a pilot for self-collection with HPV testing, which will be incorporated as part of its health care reform and universal primary health care.
  • China: Medical schools and hospitals will host a series of academic lectures, health runs, and illuminations to raise awareness across 31 cities.
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo will host a 3-day forum to launch a national strategy for cervical cancer elimination, concluding with a march through Kinshasa for cervical cancer awareness.
  • Ethiopia, with support from Gavi, will launch an HPV vaccination campaign aiming to reach over 7 million girls.
  • India: Civil society groups in different states will host a series of activities that include awareness campaigns and trainings for health-care professionals.  
  • Ireland will launch its Action Plan to achieve cervical cancer elimination, one year after announcing its goal to achieve this milestone by 2040 on the Day of Action in 2023.
  • Japan’s Ministry of Health, local municipalities, and hospitals will illuminate over 70 landmarks across the country during their annual Teal Blue Campaign.
  • Nigeria will raise awareness through advocacy led by the Nigerian First Ladies Against Cancer.
  • Rwanda will announce its goal to reach the 90-70-90 targets by the year 2027, three years ahead of the WHO goal.
  • South Africa’s Department of Health will roll out health provider trainings in 3 provinces.

Push for better tests

WHO is launching new guidance on Target Product Profiles (TPPs) for HPV screening tests. This technical product outlines preferred standards for new HPV tests. The tests should be able to function even in remote areas in low- and middle-income country settings where disease burden is highest. The TPPs highlight the importance of tests that give women the option to collect their own samples for testing; and the value of tools that enable HPV testing in settings closer to where women receive care.

The new publication aims to support innovation in the HPV testing market, emphasizing high-performance, low-cost, and accessible solutions, particularly transformative in resource-limited settings.

Editor’s note

In 2020, 194 countries resolved to eliminate a cancer for the first time and WHO launched the Global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem. This historic response to the WHO Director-General’s call to action in 2018 catalyzed a social movement and sparked an annual tradition, bringing communities across the world together for a Day of Action for Cervical Cancer Elimination. 

 

11/14/2024   WHO News

Worldwide, there were an estimated 10.3 million cases of measles in 2023, a 20% increase from 2022, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Inadequate immunization coverage globally is driving the surge in cases.

Measles is preventable with two doses of measles vaccine; yet more than 22 million children missed their first dose of measles vaccine in 2023. Globally, an estimated 83% of children received their first dose of measles vaccine last year, while only 74% received the recommended second dose.

Coverage of 95% or greater of two doses of measles vaccine is needed in each country and community to prevent outbreaks and protect populations from one of the world’s most contagious human viruses.

“Measles vaccine has saved more lives than any other vaccine in the past 50 years,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “To save even more lives and stop this deadly virus from harming the most vulnerable, we must invest in immunization for every person, no matter where they live.”

“The number of measles infections are rising around the globe, endangering lives and health,” CDC Director Mandy Cohen said. “The measles vaccine is our best protection against the virus, and we must continue to invest in efforts to increase access.”

As a result of global gaps in vaccination coverage, 57 countries experienced large or disruptive measles outbreaks in 2023, affecting all regions except the Americas, and representing a nearly 60% increase from 36 countries in the previous year. The WHO African, Eastern Mediterranean, European, South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions experienced a substantial upsurge in cases. Nearly half of all large or disruptive outbreaks occurred in the African region.

An unacceptable death toll due to rising measles cases

The new data show that an estimated 107 500 people, mostly children younger than 5 years of age, died due to measles in 2023. Although this is an 8% decrease from the previous year, far too many children are still dying from this preventable disease. This slight reduction in deaths was mainly because the surge in cases occurred in countries and regions where children with measles are less likely to die, due to better nutritional status and access to health services.

Even when people survive measles, serious health effects can occur, some of which are lifelong. Infants and young children are at greatest risk of serious complications from the disease, which include blindness, pneumonia, and encephalitis (an infection causing brain swelling and potentially brain damage).

As measles cases surge and outbreaks increase, the world’s elimination goal, as laid out in Immunization Agenda 2030, is under threat. Worldwide, 82 countries had achieved or maintained measles elimination at the end of 2023. Just this week, Brazil was reverified as having eliminated measles, making the WHO Americas Region once again free of endemic measles. With the exception of the African Region, at least 1 country in all WHO regions has eliminated the disease.

Urgent and targeted efforts by countries and partners, particularly in the African and Eastern Mediterranean regions, and in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings, are needed to vaccinate all children fully with two doses of measles vaccine. This requires achieving and maintaining high-performing routine immunization programmes and delivering high-quality, high-coverage campaigns when those programmes are not yet sufficient to protect every child. 

Countries and global immunization partners must also strengthen disease surveillance, including the Global Measles Rubella Laboratory Network (GMRLN). Strong disease surveillance is critical to optimizing immunization programmes and detecting and responding rapidly to measles outbreaks in order to mitigate their size and impact.

 

Note to editors

Progress Toward Regional Measles Elimination — Worldwide, 2000–2023 is a joint publication of WHO and CDC. It is published within the WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record and in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. CDC and WHO use statistical modelling to estimate measles cases and deaths each year, based on cases reported by countries, and revise previous year's estimates to assess disease trends over time.

CDC and WHO are founding members of the Measles & Rubella Partnership (M&RP), a global initiative to stop measles and rubella. Under the umbrella of Immunization Agenda 2030 and guided by the Measles and Rubella Strategic Framework 2030, M&RP’s mission includes addressing the decline in national vaccination coverage, hastening the recovery of the measles backsliding resulting from COVID-19 pandemic, and accelerating progress towards creating a world free of measles and rubella. The partnership also includes  American Red Cross, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, United Nations Foundation, and UNICEF.

Measles elimination is defined as the absence of endemic measles virus transmission in a region or other defined geographical area for more than 12 months. Conversely, a country is no longer considered to be measles free if the virus returns and transmission is sustained continuously for more than a year.

For more information on CDC’s global measles vaccination efforts, visit https://www.cdc.gov/global-measles-vaccination.

For more information on WHO’s measles response and support, visit https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/measles.

 

11/13/2024   WHO News

The number of adults living with diabetes worldwide has surpassed 800 million, more than quadrupling since 1990, according to new data released in The Lancet on World Diabetes Day. The analysis, conducted by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC) with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), highlights the scale of the diabetes epidemic and an urgent need for stronger global action to address both rising disease rates and widening treatment gaps, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

“We have seen an alarming rise in diabetes over the past three decades, which reflects the increase in obesity, compounded by the impacts of the marketing of unhealthy food, a lack of physical activity and economic hardship," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “To bring the global diabetes epidemic under control, countries must urgently take action. This starts with enacting policies that support healthy diets and physical activity, and, most importantly, health systems that provide prevention, early detection and treatment.”

The study reports that global diabetes prevalence in adults rose from 7% to 14% between 1990 and 2022. LMICs experienced the largest increases, where diabetes rates have soared while treatment access remains persistently low. This trend has led to stark global inequalities: in 2022, almost 450 million adults aged 30 and older – about 59% of all adults with diabetes – remained untreated, marking a 3.5-fold increase in untreated people since 1990. Ninety per cent of these untreated adults are living in LMICs.

The study further reveals substantial global differences in diabetes rates, with the prevalence of diabetes among adults aged 18 and older around 20% in the WHO South-East Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean Regions. These two regions, together with the African Region, have the lowest rates of diabetes treatment coverage, with fewer than 4 in 10 adults with diabetes taking glucose-lowering medication for their diabetes.

WHO’s commitment to global diabetes response

Addressing the soaring diabetes burden, WHO is also launching a new global monitoring framework on diabetes today.  This product represents a crucial step in the global response, providing comprehensive guidance to countries in measuring and evaluating diabetes prevention, care, outcomes and impacts. By tracking key indicators such as glycaemic control, hypertension and access to essential medicines, countries can improve targeted interventions and policy initiatives. This standardized approach empowers countries to prioritize resources effectively, driving significant improvements in diabetes prevention and care.

WHO’s Global Diabetes Compact, launched in 2021, includes the vision of reducing the risk of diabetes, and ensuring that all people who are diagnosed with diabetes have access to equitable, comprehensive, affordable and quality treatment and care. The work undertaken as part of the Compact will also support the prevention of type 2 diabetes from obesity, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. In addition, the same year, a diabetes resolution was endorsed at the World Health Assembly urging Member States to raise the priority given to the prevention, diagnosis and control of diabetes as well as prevention and management of risk factors such as obesity.

In 2022, WHO established five global diabetes coverage targets to be achieved by 2030. One of these targets is to ensure that 80% of people with diagnosed diabetes achieve good glycemic control. Today’s release underlines the scale and urgency of action needed to advance efforts to close the gap.  

The upcoming year 2025 presents a significant opportunity to catalyse action against the alarming rise in diabetes worldwide with the Fourth High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) to take place in September. This meeting brings heads of states and governments together to set a powerful vision for preventing and controlling NCDs, including diabetes, through a collective commitment to address root causes and improve access to detection and treatment. By aligning efforts towards the 2030 and 2050 goals, this high-level meeting is a pivotal moment for strengthening global health systems, including primary health care and halting the rise in the diabetes epidemic.

 

Notes for editors

The study released today was conducted by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), a worldwide network of over 1500 researchers and practitioners, in collaboration with WHO. It is the first global analysis of trends in both diabetes rates and treatment coverage that is based on data from over 140 million people aged 18 years or older that were included in more than 1000 studies covering populations in all countries. The study used an updated methodology of measuring diabetes prevalence in populations from previous studies to provide a more accurate overview of the global diabetes epidemic.

 

11/12/2024   WHO News
The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) announced today an important grant allocation of US$ 10 million to WHO to implement the Health Impact Investment Platform (HIIP).
11/07/2024   WHO News

Ahead of the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference in Baku (COP29), the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for an end to reliance on fossil fuels and advocates for people-centred adaptation and resilience.

Launching the COP29 special report on climate and health and a technical guidance on Healthy Nationally Determined Contributions, WHO urges world leaders at COP29 to abandon the siloed approach to addressing climate change and health. It stresses the importance of positioning health at the core of all climate negotiations, strategies, policies and action plans, to save lives and secure healthier futures for present and future generations.

“The climate crisis is a health crisis, which makes prioritizing health and well-being in climate action not only a moral and legal imperative, but a strategic opportunity to unlock transformative health benefits for a more just and equitable future,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “COP29 is a crucial opportunity for global leaders to integrate health considerations into strategies for adapting to and mitigating climate change. WHO is supporting this work with practical guidelines and support for countries.”

Bold health argument for climate action

Developed by WHO in collaboration with over 100 organizations and 300 experts, the COP29 special report on climate change and health identifies critical policies across three integrated dimensions – people, place and planet. The report outlines key actions aiming to protect all people, particularly the estimated 3.6 billion people who live in areas which are most susceptible to climate change.

The report underlines the importance of the governance that integrates health in climate policy-making – and climate in health policy-making – being essential for progress. The report’s top recommendations include:

  • make human health and well-being the top measure of climate success to catalyse progress and ensure people-centred adaptation and resilience;
    • end fossil fuel subsidies and reliance by realigning economic and financial systems to protect both people's health and the environment, through investment in clean, sustainable alternatives that reduce pollution-related diseases and cut carbon emissions;
    • mobilize financing for climate-health initiatives, particularly to strengthen responsive health systems and support the health workforce, creating resilient, climate-proof health systems to protect health and save lives;
    • invest in proven solutions; just 5 interventions – from heat-health warning systems, to clean household energy, to efficient pricing of fossil fuels – would save almost 2 million lives a year, and bring US$ 4 in benefits for each dollar invested;
    • build greater focus on the role of cities in health outcomes, through more sustainable urban design, clean energy, resilient housing, and improved sanitation; and
    • increase protections for and restoration of nature and biodiversity, recognizing the synergistic health benefits of clean air, water and food security.

    “Health is the lived experience of climate change,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director, Environment, Climate Change and Health, WHO. “By prioritizing health in every aspect of climate action, we can unlock significant benefits for public health, climate resilience, security, and economic stability. Health is the argument we need to catalyze urgent and large-scale action in this critical moment.”

    Enhanced WHO action on health and climate

    Climate NDCs or Nationally Determined Contributions are national plans and commitments made by countries under the Paris Agreement. While health is identified as a priority in 91% of the NDCs, few outline specific actions to leverage the health benefits of climate mitigation and adaptation or to protect health from climate-related risks.

    To support countries to better integrate health into their climate policies, WHO has released today WHO quality criteria for integrating health into Nationally Determined Contributions: Healthy NDCs. The guidance outlines practical actions for ministries of health, ministries of environment, and other health-determining sectors (e.g. transport, energy, urban planning, water and sanitation) to incorporate health considerations within their adaptation and mitigation policies and actions.

    This technical guidance serves as a concrete framework to implement the recommendations included in the WHO’s COP29 special report, addressing key areas such as leadership and enabling environment; national circumstances and policy priorities; mitigation; adaptation; loss and damage; finance; and implementation. Integrating health within climate plans will support:

    • addressing health impacts: tackling the diverse health effects of climate change;
    • strengthening health systems: enhancing climate resilience and decarbonization in health systems; and
    • promoting co-benefits: focusing on key sectors that have a strong influence both on health and climate change mitigation and adaptation, such as transportation and energy.

    In addition to its own initiatives, WHO convenes 90 countries and 75 partners through the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH). This platform was established to advance the commitments made at COP26 for building climate-resilient and sustainable health systems. ATACH promotes the integration of climate change and health nexus into respective national, regional, and global plans using the collective power of WHO Member States and other stakeholders to drive this agenda forward with urgency and scale.

    Quotes of support

    António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations:

    “The climate crisis is also a health crisis. Human health and planetary health are intertwined. Countries must take meaningful action to protect their people, boost resources, cut emissions, phase out fossil fuels, and make peace with nature. COP29 must drive progress towards those vital goals for the planet’s health and for people’s health.”

    Dr Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation:

    “The impact of climate change has to be measured in more than degrees: we have to account for lives saved, lost, and improved. The Rockefeller Foundation is working closely with the World Health Organization and many other partners to center health considerations in all climate action, including efforts to enable just energy transitions and to increase economic opportunities for people living in frontline communities.”

    Dr Vanessa Kerry, WHO Director-General Special Envoy for Climate Change Health:

    "This report exposes how the accelerating climate and health crisis impacts more than just our health – it undermines economies, deepens inequities, and fuels political instability. As leaders gather for COP29, we urge them to fast-track a just transition and increase funding for health systems and frontline health workers to protect the most vulnerable. Health must be central in climate discussions, metrics, and Nationally Determined Contributions. To safeguard people, economies, and global security, health must be at the heart of climate action. We can’t afford to wait."

    Dr Alan Dangour, Director of Climate & Health at Wellcome:

    “In every single country, climate change is costing lives, causing pain and suffering. It is a common crisis that must unite us to act, and act quickly. At COP29, countries must grasp the opportunity to commit to ambitious cross-government climate actions that both protect the planet and improves health for all. By working together, we can still change our current course and save lives.” 

    Dr Micaela Serafini, President, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Switzerland:

    “Today, we are in an unacceptable situation where the world’s most vulnerable people are paying the highest price for a problem they did not cause. Solutions to safeguard their health must be prioritized, with the well-being of people placed at the heart of climate action. Failing to do so will take a toll on the very vitals of humanity.”

    Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General, The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC):

    “From the impacts of extreme heat to the spread of illnesses through floodwaters, from malnutrition as crops fail to mosquito-borne diseases where they haven’t been seen before, the climate crisis is the ultimate health crisis. This report is vital – highlighting how climate change makes us sick and what we need to do about it.”

    Jeni Miller, PhD, Executive Director, Global Climate and Health Alliance

    “Health workers are seeing the impacts of climate change firsthand, in the suffering of patients and communities they serve. During COP29, it is time for all governments to demonstrate readiness to protect people’s lives by getting serious about bold climate action. Wealthy governments must deliver the funding needed to help the most impacted countries to build their resilience and response to climate shocks. And together, governments must spell out how and when they will achieve the fossil fuel phase out promised at COP28, to deliver a full, healthy, and just clean energy transition.”

    Jaber Oufkir, Liaison Officer for Public Health Issues, The International Federation of Medical Students’ Association (IFMSA):

    The IFMSA envisions a world where climate change is fundamentally recognized as a health-care emergency. We foresee a future where the health sector leads the charge toward a net-zero economy, prioritizing sustainable practices and advocating for systemic changes. The climate crisis is not just an environmental issue; it’s a health crisis that impacts young people profoundly. Yet, youth voices are often absent from the conversations that could make a real difference. We strongly believe that young perspectives must be front and centre in the fight against climate change and highlight the importance of transparent intergenerational collaboration, creating a space where climate, health, and youth empowerment intersect for change. Our vision calls for actionable commitments from decision-makers to integrate health into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), prioritize health equity, and integrate climate adaptation strategies into public health frameworks. We ultimately envision diligent efforts towards phasing out fossil fuels and taking necessary steps to ensure a sustainable future for all.

     

    11/06/2024   WHO News

    More than 100 governments today made historic commitments to end childhood violence, including nine pledging to ban corporal punishment – an issue that affects 3 out of every 5 children regularly in their homes. These commitments were made at a landmark event in Bogotá, Colombia, where government delegations are set to agree on a new global declaration aimed at protecting children from all kinds of violence, exploitation and abuse.

    Also at the event, which is hosted by the Governments of Colombia and Sweden together with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, several countries committed to improve services for childhood violence survivors or tackle bullying, while others said they would invest in critical parenting support – one of the most effective interventions for reducing violence risks in the home.

    “Despite being highly preventable, violence remains a horrific day to day reality for millions of children around the world – leaving scars that span generations,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.  “Today countries made critical pledges that, once enacted, could finally turn the tide on childhood violence. From establishing lifechanging support for families to making schools safer places or tackling online abuse, these actions will be fundamental to protecting children from lasting harm and ill health.”

    Over half of all children globally – some 1 billion – are estimated to suffer some form of violence, such as child maltreatment (including corporal punishment, the most prevalent form of childhood violence), bullying, physical or emotional abuse, as well as sexual violence.  Violence against children is often hidden, mostly occurs behind closed doors, and is vastly underreported. WHO estimates that fewer than half of affected children tell anyone they experienced violence and under 10% receive any help.

    Such violence not only constitutes a grave violation of children’s rights but also increases the risk of immediate and long-term health issues. For some children, violence results in death or serious injury. Every 13 minutes, a child or adolescent dies as a result of homicide – equating to around 40 000 preventable deaths each year. For others, experiencing violence has devastating and life-long consequences. These include anxiety and depression, risky behaviours like unsafe sex, smoking and substance abuse, and reduced academic achievement.

    Evidence shows that violence against children is preventable, with the health sector having a critical role to play. Proven solutions include parenting support to help caregivers avoid violent discipline and build positive relationships with their children; school-based interventions to strengthen life and social skills for children and adolescents, and prevent bullying; child-friendly social and health services for children that experience violence; laws that prohibit violence against children and reduce underlying risk factors such as access to alcohol and guns, and efforts to ensure safer internet use for children. Research has shown that when countries effectively implement such strategies, they can reduce violence against children by as much as 20-50%.

    In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the first global targets for ending violence against children were established in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Progress in reducing overall prevalence of childhood violence has however been slow, despite gains in some individual countries. Around 9 in 10 children still live in countries where prevalent forms of childhood violence such as corporal punishment, or even sexual abuse and exploitation, are not yet prohibited by law.

    Over 1000 people are attending this first-ever Ministerial Conference on Violence against Children, including high-level government delegations, children, young people, survivor and civil society allies.

    Specific pledges at the event include among others, commitments to end physical punishment, to introduce new digital safety initiatives, increase the legally permitted age of marriage and to invest in parenting education and child protection. WHO provides significant support for efforts to end childhood violence, through technical guidance, guiding effective strategies for prevention and response, and conducting new research and data, including its global status reports. 

    Key statistics

    • Over half of all children aged 2-17 – more than 1 billion – experience some form of violence each year.
    • Around 3 in 5 children are regularly punished by physical means in their homes.
    • 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 7 boys experience sexual violence.
    • Between 25% and 50% children are estimated to have experienced bullying.
    • For adolescent males, violence – often involving firearms or other weapons - is now the leading cause of death. 

    Notable pledges

    • Eight countries pledged to pursue legislation against corporal punishment in all settings  – Burundi, Czechia, Gambia, Kyrgyzstan, Panama, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Tajikistan – and Nigeria in schools.
    • Dozens of countries committed to invest in parenting support.
    • The Government of the United Kingdom along with other partners committed to launch a Global Taskforce on ending violence in and through schools.
    • Tanzania committed to introduce Child Protection Desks in all 25 000 schools.
    • Spain committed to pursue a new digital law to promote digital safety.
    • Solomon Islands pledged to raise the age of marriage from 15 to 18 – noting that early marriage is a significant risk factor for violence against adolescent girls.
    • Many countries made commitments to strengthen national policies and/or develop specific plans to tackle violence against children.

    All pledges

     

    11/06/2024   WHO News

    The second round of the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip was completed yesterday, with an overall 556 774 children under the age of 10 being vaccinated with a second dose of polio vaccine, and 448 425 children between 2- to 10-years-old receiving vitamin A, following the three phases conducted in the last weeks.

    Administrative data confirm around 94% of the target population of 591 714 children under the age of 10 years received a second dose of nOPV2 across the Gaza Strip, which is a remarkable achievement given the extremely difficult circumstances the campaign was executed under. The campaign achieved 103% and 91% coverage in central and southern Gaza, respectively. However, in northern Gaza, where the campaign was compromised due to lack of access, approximately 88% coverage was achieved according to preliminary data. An estimated 7000-10 000 children in inaccessible areas like Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun remain unvaccinated and vulnerable to the poliovirus. This also increases the risk of further spread of poliovirus in the Gaza Strip and neighbouring countries.

    The end of this second round concludes the polio vaccination campaign launched in September 2024. This round also took place in three phases across central, south and northern Gaza under area-specific humanitarian pauses. While the first two phases proceeded as planned, the third phase in northern Gaza had to be temporarily postponed on 23 October because of intense bombardments, mass displacements, lack of assured humanitarian pauses and access.

    After careful assessment of the situation by the technical committee, comprising the Palestinian Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the campaign resumed on 2 November. However, the area under the assured humanitarian pauses comprising the campaign was substantially reduced, compared to the first round, as the access was limited to Gaza City. Due to hostilities, more than 150 000 people were forced to evacuate from North Gaza to Gaza City, which helped in accessing more children than anticipated.

    Despite these challenges, and thanks to the tremendous dedication, engagement and courage of parents, children, communities and health workers, the phase in northern Gaza was completed.

    At least two doses and a minimum of 90% vaccination coverage are needed in each community to stop circulation of the polio strain affecting Gaza. Efforts will now continue to boost immunity levels through routine immunization services offered at functional health facilities and to strengthen disease surveillance to rapidly detect any further poliovirus transmission (either in affected children or in environmental samples). The evolving epidemiology will determine if further outbreak response may be necessary.

    To fully implement surveillance and routine immunization services, not just for polio but for all vaccine-preventable diseases, WHO and UNICEF continue to call for a ceasefire. Further, apart from the attack on the primary healthcare centre, the campaign underscores what can be achieved with humanitarian pauses. These actions must be systematically applied beyond the polio emergency response efforts to other health and humanitarian interventions to respond to dire needs.

     

    Notes to editors:

    The polio campaign, being conducted by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), and other partners, was part of emergency efforts to stop a polio outbreak in Gaza, which was detected on 16 July 2024, and to prevent further spread of poliovirus.

    Since July 2024, circulating variant poliovirus type 2 has been confirmed in Gaza in 11 environmental samples has been confirmed in Gaza in a 10-month-old paralysed child (in August 2024).

    11/06/2024   WHO News

    The Access and Allocation Mechanism (AAM) for mpox has allocated an initial 899 000 vaccine doses for 9 countries across the African region that are hit hard by the current mpox surge. In collaboration with affected countries and donors, this decision aims to ensure that the limited doses are used effectively and fairly, with the overall objective to control the outbreaks.

    The AAM principals from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), UNICEF, and the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the allocation, following the recommendations of an independent Technical Review Committee of the Continental Incident Management Support Team for mpox. The decision was informed by country readiness and epidemiological data.

    The 9 countries are the Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.  The largest number of doses – 85% of the allocation – will go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the most affected country, reporting four out of every five laboratory-confirmed cases in Africa this year.

    These doses come from Canada, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain, as well as the European Union Health Emergency Response Authority), and the United States of America.

    The outbreak of mpox, particularly the surge of the viral strain clade Ib, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries was declared a public health emergency of international concern by WHO and a public health emergency of continental security by Africa CDC in mid-August. This year, 19 countries in Africa have reported mpox, many of them newly affected by the viral disease. The epicentre of the outbreak remains the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with over 38 000 suspected cases and over 1000 deaths reported this year.

    Vaccination is recommended as a part of a comprehensive mpox response strategy, focusing also on timely testing and diagnosis, effective clinical care, infection prevention, and the engagement of affected communities. Vaccines play an important role and are recommended to reduce transmission and help contain outbreaks.

    In recent weeks, limited vaccination has begun in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. This allocation to the 9 countries marks a significant step towards a coordinated and targeted deployment of vaccines to stop the mpox outbreaks.

    For most countries, the rollout of mpox vaccines will be a new undertaking. Implementing targeted vaccination requires additional resources. Partners of the mpox AAM, set up last month, are working to scale up the response. Further allocations of vaccines are expected before the end of the year.

     

    Notes to editors

    Key points of the vaccination approach under the global and continental strategic preparedness and response plans:

    1. Vaccine availability: Over 5.85 million vaccine doses are expected to be available to the Mpox Vaccines AAM by the end of 2024, including the nearly 900 000 allocated doses. The supply includes contributions from multiple nations and organizations, including 1.85 million dose donations of MVA-BN from the European Union, United States, and Canada, 500 000 doses of MVA-BN from Gavi utilizing the First Response Fund, 500 000 doses procured through UNICEF, as well as a further 3 million doses of the LC16 vaccine from Japan.

    2. Phased vaccination strategy:

    3. • Phase 1: Stop outbreaks – Focused on interrupting transmission through targeted vaccination of people at highest risk of infection including contacts of confirmed cases, health-care workers, frontline responders, and key at-risk populations in areas with active human to human transmission.

      • Phase 2: Expand protection – To protect more people at risk in affected communities, as additional doses of vaccine are available. It targets individuals at high risk of severe disease – based on local epidemiology – in affected areas, focusing on regions with the highest incidence of mpox. Special attention will be given to vulnerable populations, including those living with HIV, internally displaced persons, and refugees, due to their increased risk of severe outcomes.

      • Phase 3: Protect for the future – Aimed at building population immunity to guard against future outbreaks as part of a longer-term mpox control programme.

      The first phase targets the vaccination of approximately 1.4 million people at risk of infection by the end of 2024, with an initial 2.8 million doses of the MVA-BN vaccine to be allocated for this effort.

    4. Maximizing the impact of vaccines through strategic vaccination is crucial: Implementing targeted vaccination approaches can reduce transmission by focusing on those at the highest risk of infection. This vaccination strategy prioritizes individuals at substantially higher risk of exposure, including close contacts – such as household members and sexual partners – of confirmed cases. A combination of prevention and control interventions are recommended to optimize the effectiveness of vaccination efforts.

    5. Demand planning for Phase 2: Current demand forecasts for Phase 2 estimate the need to vaccinate at least an additional 10 million individuals to protect high-risk groups across Africa. The projection is based on current epidemiological data and emerging information on transmission patterns. These estimates will be updated as more data becomes available, and the outbreak trajectory evolves.

    6. Regulatory and policy updates: The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) recommends off-label use of vaccines for children and pregnant women in outbreak settings. Urgent action is required to expedite regulatory pathways for vaccine approval across affected countries, ensuring timely access for infants and children. Additionally, delivery support must be strengthened to address in-country vaccine delivery challenges and ensure efficient distribution.

     

    11/04/2024   WHO News

    A new World Health Organization (WHO) study published today in eBioMedicine names 17 pathogens that regularly cause diseases in communities as top priorities for new vaccine development. The WHO study is the first global effort to systematically prioritize endemic pathogens based on criteria that included regional disease burden, antimicrobial resistance risk and socioeconomic impact.

    The study reconfirms longstanding priorities for vaccine research and development (R&D), including for HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis – three diseases that collectively take nearly 2.5 million lives each year.

    The study also identifies pathogens such as Group A streptococcus and Klebsiella pneumoniae as top disease control priorities in all regions, highlighting the urgency to develop new vaccines for pathogens increasingly resistant to antimicrobials.

    “Too often global decisions on new vaccines have been solely driven by return on investment, rather than by the number of lives that could be saved in the most vulnerable communities,” said Dr Kate O’Brien, Director of the Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals Department at WHO. “This study uses broad regional expertise and data to assess vaccines that would not only significantly reduce diseases that greatly impact communities today but also reduce the medical costs that families and health systems face.”

    WHO asked international and regional experts to identify factors that are most important to them when deciding which vaccines to introduce and use. The analysis of those preferences, combined with regional data for each pathogen, resulted in top 10 priority pathogens for each WHO region. The regional lists where then consolidated to form the global list, resulting in 17 priority endemic pathogens for which new vaccines need to be researched, developed and used.

    This new WHO global priority list of endemic pathogens for vaccine R&D supports the Immunization Agenda 2030’s goal of ensuring that everyone, in all regions, can benefit from vaccines that protect them from serious diseases. The list provides an equitable and transparent evidence base to set regional and global agendas for new vaccine R&D and manufacturing, and is intended to give academics, funders, manufacturers and countries a clear direction for where vaccine R&D could have the most impact.

    This global prioritization exercise for endemic pathogens, complements the WHO R&D blueprint for epidemics, which identified priority pathogens that could cause future epidemics or pandemics, such as COVID-19 or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

    The findings of this new report on endemic pathogens are part of WHO’s work to identify and support the research priorities and needs of immunization programmes in low- and middle-income countries, to inform the global vaccine R&D agenda, and to strategically advance development and uptake of priority vaccines, particularly against pathogens that cause the largest public health burden and greatest socioeconomic impact. 

    WHO Priority endemic pathogens list

    Vaccines for these pathogens are at different stages of development.

    Pathogens where vaccine research is needed

    • Group A streptococcus
    • Hepatitis C virus
    • HIV-1
    • Klebsiella pneumoniae

     Pathogens where vaccines need to be further developed

    • Cytomegalovirus
    • Influenza virus (broadly protective vaccine)
    • Leishmania species
    • Non-typhoidal Salmonella
    • Norovirus
    • Plasmodium falciparum (malaria)
    • Shigella species
    • Staphylococcus aureus

    Pathogens where vaccines are approaching regulatory approval, policy recommendation or introduction

    • Dengue virus
    • Group B streptococcus
    • Extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli
    • Mycobacterium tuberculosis
    • Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
    11/01/2024   WHO News

     We the leaders of 15 United Nations and humanitarian organizations urge, yet again, all parties fighting in Gaza to protect civilians, and call on the State of Israel to cease its assault on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help. 

    The situation unfolding in North Gaza is apocalyptic. The area has been under siege for almost a month, denied basic aid and life-saving supplies while bombardment and other attacks continue. Just in the past few days, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and thousands have once again been forcibly displaced. 

    Hospitals have been almost entirely cut off from supplies and have come under attack, killing patients, destroying vital equipment, and disrupting life-saving services. Health workers and patients have been taken into custody. Fighting has also reportedly taken place inside hospitals. 

    Dozens of schools serving as shelters have been bombed or forcibly evacuated. Tents sheltering displaced families have been shelled, and people have been burned alive. 

    Rescue teams have been deliberately attacked and thwarted in their attempts to pull people buried under the rubble of their homes. 

    The needs of women and girls are overwhelming and growing every day. We have lost contact with those we support and those who provide lifesaving essential services for sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence. 

    And we have received reports of civilians being targeted while trying to seek safety, and of men and boys being arrested and taken to unknown locations for detention. 

    Livestock are also dying, crop lands have been destroyed, trees burned to the ground, and agrifood systems infrastructure has been decimated. 

    The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence. 

    Humanitarian aid cannot keep up with the scale of the needs due to the access constraints. Basic, life-saving goods are not available. Humanitarians are not safe to do their work and are blocked by Israeli forces and by insecurity from reaching people in need. 

    In a further blow to the humanitarian response, the polio vaccination campaign has been delayed due to the fighting, putting the lives of children in the region at risk. 

    And this week, the Israeli Parliament adopted legislation that would ban UNRWA and revoke its privileges and immunities. If implemented, such measures would be a catastrophe for the humanitarian response in Gaza, diametrically opposed to the United Nations Charter, with potential dire impacts on the human rights of the millions of Palestinians depending on UNRWA’s assistance, and in violation of Israel’s obligations under international law. 

    Let us be very clear: There is no alternative to UNRWA. 

    The blatant disregard for basic humanity and for the laws of war must stop. 

    International humanitarian law, including the rules of distinction, proportionality and precautions, must be respected. IHL obligations do not depend on reciprocity. No violation by one party ever releases the other from its legal obligations. 

    Attacks against civilians and what remains of civilian infrastructure in Gaza must stop. 

    Humanitarian relief must be facilitated, and we urge all parties to provide unimpeded access to affected people. Additionally, commercial goods must be allowed to enter Gaza. 

    The wounded and sick must receive the care they need. Medical personnel and hospitals must be spared. Hospitals should not turn into battlegrounds. 

    Unlawfully detained Palestinians must be released. 

    Israel must comply with the provisional orders and determinations of the International Court of Justice. 

    Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups must release the hostages immediately and unconditionally and must abide by international humanitarian law. 

    Member States must use their leverage to ensure respect for international law. This includes withholding arms transfers where there is a clear risk that such arms will be used in violation of international law. 

    The entire region is on the edge of a precipice. An immediate cessation of hostilities and a sustained, unconditional ceasefire are long overdue. 

    Signatories: 

    • Ms. Joyce Msuya, Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 
    • Ms. Nimo Hassan, MBE, Chair, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA
    • Mr. Jamie Munn, Executive Director, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA
    • Ms. Amy E. Pope, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM
    • Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR
    • Ms. Abby Maxman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Oxfam 
    • Ms. Paula Gaviria Betancur, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (SR on HR of IDPs) 
    • Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 
    • Ms. Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) 
    • Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 
    • Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 
    • Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) 
    • Ms. Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women 
    • Ms. Cindy McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP) 
    • Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO) 

     

    11/01/2024   WHO News
    The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) and the World Health Organization concluded the first in-person Global Model WHO (GMWHO) today, marking a powerful gathering of over 350 youth delegates from 52 countries from all Regions.
    11/01/2024   WHO News
    The Quadripartite collaboration on One Health - comprising the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) - co-organized the G20 High-Level Meeting on One Health on 30 October 2024.
    11/01/2024   WHO News

    A third phase of the polio vaccination campaign is set to begin tomorrow in part of the northern Gaza Strip after being postponed from 23 October 2024 due to lack of access and assured, comprehensive humanitarian pauses, intense bombardment, and mass evacuation orders. These conditions made it impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination and to organize campaign activities.  

    The humanitarian pause necessary to conduct the campaign has been assured; however, the area of the pause has been substantially reduced compared to the first round of vaccination in northern Gaza, conducted in September 2024. It is now limited to just Gaza City. Though in the past few weeks, at least 100 000 people have been forced to evacuate from North Gaza towards Gaza City for safety, around 15 000 children under ten years in towns in North Gaza like Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun still remain inaccessible and will be missed during the campaign, compromising its effectiveness. To interrupt poliovirus transmission, at least 90% of all children in every community and neighborhood must be vaccinated. This will be challenging to achieve given the situation. 

    The final phase of the campaign had aimed to reach an estimated 119 000 children under ten years old in northern Gaza with a second dose of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2). However, achieving this target is now unlikely due to access constraints.  

    Despite the lack of access to all eligible children in northern Gaza, the Polio Technical Committee for Gaza, including the Palestinian Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and partners has taken the decision to resume the campaign. This aims to mitigate the risk of a long delay in reaching as many children as possible with polio vaccine and the opportunity to vaccinate those recently evacuated to Gaza City from other parts of North Gaza.   

     To overcome challenges posed by the volatile security situation and constant population movement, robust micro plans have been developed to ensure the campaign is responsive to the significant population shifts and displacement in the north, following the first round in September. The campaign will be delivered by 216 teams across 106 fixed sites, 22 of which have been added to ensure increased availability of vaccination in areas where recently displaced people are seeking refuge. Two hundred and nine social mobilizers will be deployed to engage communities and raise awareness around vaccination efforts. The time period for the humanitarian pause has been extended by two hours and is expected to run from 6am to 4pm daily. As in the first two phases, vitamin A will also be co-administered to children between two to ten years in the north to help boost overall immunity. 

    The campaign in northern Gaza follows the successful implementation of the first two phases of the second round in central and southern Gaza, which reached 451 216 children – 96% of the target in these areas. A total of 364 306 children aged between 2 and 10 years have received vitamin A so far in this round.  

    Despite the challenges, WHO and UNICEF urge for the humanitarian pauses to be respected to ensure the successful delivery of this second round of the polio vaccination campaign. This is crucial to help curb the spread of polio in Gaza and neighboring countries.