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In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the fight against mpox – previously known as monkeypox – is entering a new phase.

While many are anxious to contain the outbreak – the largest mpox outbreak ever recorded in the DRC with more than 4,500 cases so far this year – experts say that's not yet possible: There are no vaccines or treatments in the country right now, and even the testing capacity is severely limited. Instead, this new phase of the mpox fight involves simply getting a better understanding of what exactly is going on.

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The DRC's mpox outbreak is noteworthy not only for its size but for the changing nature of the virus.

According to Africa CDC, 11 African countries have reported mpox cases but the DRC is the clear epicenter, with a caseload three times what it was this time last year. The virus, which usually jumps from a small animal to a human and then spreads between people, causes painful lesions and sometimes fever, malaise and even death.

This Policy Brief considers the negotiating process conducted so far by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) for an instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response under the World Health Organization (WHO), and some aspects of the draft text for the Resumed Ninth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB9R), as well as of the draft proposed resolution for consideration by the World Health Assembly in May 2024. The Policy Brief provides recommendations to assist member States in their negotiations during the INB9R to be held from April 29 to 10 May 2024.

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The US plans to double the number of countries it supports to prevent infectious disease outbreaks, opting for bilateral agreements with at least 100 countries, according to its new Global Health Security Strategy (GHSS).

“Recent outbreaks, from mpox to Marburg, cholera, and other diseases… are wake-up calls for anyone who thought COVID was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Dr Stephanie Psaki, US Coordinator for Global Health Security.

“US national security and prosperity depend on countries around the world being prepared to prevent outbreaks when possible, and to rapidly detect and respond to emerging infectious-disease threats when they occur,” added Psaki, who is also White House National Security Council’s Deputy Senior Director for Global Health and Biodefense. 

“Global health and community health are all interconnected,” remarked Dr Michelle A Williams, former dean of Harvard’s School of Public Health. “A threat anywhere is a threat everywhere when a pathogen can travel anywhere in the world in 72 hours.” 

On 17 April 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the Proposed Bureau’s text in advance of the 8th meeting of the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) (WGIHR) which meets from 22–26 April 2024. Accompanying the 64 page Bureau text is an accompanying, non-public document on the rationales underpinning the proposed Bureau’s text for WGIHR 8.

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uring my visit to Cambodia last year, I examined the state of malaria control in the country and provided recommendations for how to sustain the country’s success against the disease. This kind of strategic analysis is not new for me. I spent 15 years leading USAID’s malaria programs, culminating in designing and soliciting support for the U.S. government’s largest malaria program – the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), which launched in 2005.

My recommendations largely focused on integrating future malaria surveillance into a broader program focusing on the major causes of fever-inducing, or febrile, illnesses in Cambodia. We presented these recommendations to the Cambodia National Malaria Control Program (CNM), as well as USAID and PMI, and have been endorsed by the CNM to create a concept paper for field validation. URC will lead the effort under the Cambodia Malaria Elimination Project 2 (CMEP2), which URC implements.

My observations and experiences with malaria in Cambodia from 2005 through my most recent trip in 2023 are remarkable.

Climate change threatens India's 378 million women of childbearing age with anemia due to rising temperatures and declining crop nutrients.

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A 2017 Harvard study published in GeoHealth journal that analyzed diets from 152 countries found that wheat, rice, barley, maize, and legumes have lower iron concentrations of 4%-10% when grown under increased carbon dioxide concentration. This puts 57% of children under age 5 — a staggering 354 million —- and 1.06 billion women of childbearing age, at risk of anemia.

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Governments worldwide are pushing farmers to adopt genetically modified hybrid varieties to combat food insecurity and feed the rapidly growing population. These varieties are easy to grow and have a higher yield than native ones, but they require intensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the overuse of which impacts the soil and its nutrients, leading to a decline in essential nutrients in the crops.

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The Zero Draft of the Global Digital Compact (GDC) to be adopted at the Summit of the Future is crucial to international digital cooperation under a transformative vision of global digital governance. It should identify the means for achieving equitable participation, sustainable development, gender equality, increased local capacity, public ownership of core digital infrastructure and address the concentration of power in the digital economy. This SouthViews considers some of the shortcomings of the draft GDC, particularly in attaining equitable international data governance and democratic participation in a digital multistakeholder scenario to avoid data monopolies and ensure inclusive policy-making processes, while recentering the objectives of Internet governance for inclusive and development-oriented information societies.

Developed countries are pushing to dilute the proposal on equity from the Bureau of the Working Group on Amendments to the International Heath Regulation 2005 (WGHIR).

The Bureau’s proposal is itself weak already as it lacks an effective implementation means to address the lack of equity in IHR especially its silence on access to health products and the lack of financial vehicle to assist the implementation.

The 8^th meeting of the WGIHR is taking place from 22 to 26 April at the WHO Headquarters in a hybrid mode.

The first day of WGIHR8 discussed the Bureau’s proposals on Articles 13 and 44 immediately after the opening plenary.  There were no statements from the regional groups or individual Member States.

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The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the failure of voluntary mechanisms during global emergencies and exemplifies the need for effective involuntary technology transfer tools. The WHO Pandemic Accord offers an opportunity to provide an effective mechanism to build upon existing TRIPS flexibilities in the specific pandemic context. We propose a new provision (Article 11 bis ) that outlines a mechanism on cross-border procedure of non-voluntary technology transfer during a pandemic. This procedure could be invoked in a pandemic scenario in which voluntary technology transfer mechanisms have failed to provide sufficient supplies of a needed pandemic product.

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The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the failure of voluntary mechanisms during global emergencies and exemplifies the need for effective involuntary technology transfer tools. The WHO Pandemic Accord offers an opportunity to provide an effective mechanism to build upon existing TRIPS flexibilities in the specific pandemic context. We propose a new provision (Article 11bis) that outlines a mechanism on cross-border procedure of non-voluntary technology transfer during a pandemic. This procedure could be invoked in a pandemic scenario in which voluntary technology transfer mechanisms have failed to provide sufficient supplies of a needed pandemic product.

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