UK pledges £3.1m for Democratic Republic of the Congo in bid to contain mpox

A £3.1 million UK Government package to tackle mpox will “ultimately benefit us all”, the Africa minister has said.

On a visit to the Institut National de Recherche Biomedicale in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lord Collins of Highbury pledged money to prevent the spread of the disease, which was previously known as monkeypox.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), some 15,000 clinically compatible cases of mpox have been detected in the DRC in 2024, with 500 deaths reported.

WHO also identified more than 20,770 cases of cholera in the DRC during the first seven months of 2024, with outbreaks of a similar scale in Ethiopia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Support

Lord Collins said on his visit to Kinshasa: “Working together with our partners and using the expertise and dedication of Congolese scientists, including those at the world-leading research centre I have visited in DRC, our support will play an important role in ensuring global health security for all.

“By protecting the health and wellbeing of communities across DRC, and by helping contain these outbreaks, we reduce the risk of diseases spreading further afield. This will ultimately benefit us all.”

According to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the cash package will benefit more than 4.4 million people in already-affected communities, as part of a partnership with Unicef.

WHO declared an upsurge of mpox cases in the DRC a public health emergency of international concern in an announcement last week.

WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “The emergence of a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are very worrying.”

Dr Meera Chand, of the UK Health Security Agency, said: “The risk to the UK population is currently considered low.

“However, planning is under way to prepare for any cases that we might see in the UK.

“This includes ensuring that clinicians are aware and able to recognise cases promptly, that rapid testing is available, and that protocols are developed for the safe clinical care of people who have the infection and the prevention of onward transmission.”