The Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project offers technical assistance 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.
Anyone who has close contact with someone with mpox can get the disease, regardless of age, sexual orientation or gender identity. People who identify as gay or bisexual, as well as other men who have sex with men, represent the majority of mpox cases. Stigmatizing these communities threatens to undermine the global mpox response.
EpiC has substantial global experience and success working with health systems and communities at risk of infection to accelerate strategic, sustainable and stigma-free 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:
- Producing a fact sheet that includes a general overview about the disease, its mode of transmission, those who are considered at risk, and available preventive measures. It also highlights specific issues related to key populations and people living with HIV (PLHIV), children, and adults (also available in French).
- Providing guidance around messaging for men who have sex with men and other communities at risk of being infected with mpox, as well as for health care providers.
- Training and capacity building for health care providers and community health workers, especially those that provide services to men who have sex with men and other communities at risk of being infected with mpox. Those service providers include drop-in centers and outreach venues. Click here to download the mpox training user guide.
- Adaptation of the multicountry online app called QuickRes, which uses the Online Reservation and Case Management App software, for enhanced communication and reporting on mpox.
- Strengthening national laboratory systems and bolstering diagnostic capacity.
- Strengthening national surveillance systems, including data collection, analysis, visualization and data use.
Read more about EpiC’s HIV efforts.
Read more about EpiC’s COVID-19 efforts.
