The Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project offers technical support to partner governments to accelerate the emergency response to mpox, a virus. Mpox has been endemic in Central and West Africa for decades, but surges of cases in July 2022 and more recently in August 2024 resulted in the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring it a public health emergency of international concern.
EpiC has substantial global experience and success working with health systems and communities at risk of infection to accelerate responses to HIV and COVID-19, two of the greatest public health challenges of our time. EpiC is leveraging these foundations to accelerate the emergency response to mpox with a focus on the following priorities:
- Providing information for at-risk individuals and communities, as well as for health care providers
- Training health care providers and community health workers to identify and care for patients with mpox
- Strengthening national laboratory systems and bolstering diagnostic capacity
- Strengthening national surveillance systems, including data collection, analysis, visualization and data use
- Adaptation of the multicountry online app called QuickRes, for enhanced communication and reporting on mpox
