The World Health Organization has confirmed that the outbreak of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo should still be considered an international emergency, as efforts to fight the disease have been undermined by the suspension of US aid.
The organisation’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee said that the epidemiological situation remained volatile in the region, according to a WHO statement released on Monday (17 March).
It said the situation has been exacerbated by the pause in US support for overseas aid, as the US has so far funded a third of the cost of fighting mpox.
The funding withdrawal comes amid an already tense situaton, with health teams hampered by the ongoing conflict in eastern DRC, and concurrent disease outbreaks in the region, such as an outbreak of Sudan virus in neighbouring Uganda.
The security situation in DRC, where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group has seized control of a number of key cities in the mineral-rich east of the country, has forced health teams to relocate their operatons, it added.