Today marks a significant milestone in Africa’s collective journey toward strengthened health security. Following the recommendation of the Africa CDC Emergency Consultative Group (ECG), I hereby announce the lifting of mpox as a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS). This decision reflects Africa’s growing capacity to lead complex public health responses, grounded in strong political leadership, regional solidarity, and effective international partnerships.
The declaration of the mpox PHECS in August 2024 was historic, marking the first time Africa CDC exercised its expanded mandate under the revised 2022 statutes to declare a continental public health emergency and coordinate a unified response. The decision was driven by a sharp escalation of mpox transmission across the continent, with 80,276 suspected cases and 1,340 deaths reported in 2024—representing more than a five-fold increase in cases and a two-fold increase in deaths compared with the same period in 2023. The Democratic Republic of the Congo bore a disproportionate burden, accounting for 96% of reported cases and 97% of deaths.
For decades, mpox outbreaks in Africa received limited international attention and insufficient investment to strengthen surveillance, diagnostics, clinical management, and outbreak response capacities. During this period, African countries had little access to vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics available elsewhere, despite carrying a disproportionate share of the disease burden. These systemic inequities, combined with evolving epidemiological patterns, contributed to the scale, spread, and severity of recent outbreaks, particularly among vulnerable populations.
In response, African leadership mobilized early and decisively. In April 2024, a High-Level Emergency Regional Ministerial Meeting on Mpox convened in Kinshasa, catalyzing political commitment and coordinated continental action. As the situation continued to escalate, Africa CDC convened the ECG, which assessed the evolving epidemiological context and recommended the declaration of a PHECS. Since then, significant progress has been achieved through the collective efforts of African Union leadership, Member States, communities, health workers, scientists, and partners operating through the Incident Management Support Team (IMST), co-led by Africa CDC and the World Health Organization.
Throughout the response, the ECG provided consistent strategic oversight, convening multiple times to review evidence, refine direction, and guide the IMST with scientific rigor. Guided by the “4-Ones” principle—one team, one plan, one budget, and one monitoring and evaluation framework—the IMST demonstrated a scalable and effective model for outbreak management. The response mobilized over US$1 billion in financing; strengthened community-anchored surveillance through digitalized community health workers; expanded laboratory and genomic sequencing capacity more than ten-fold; deployed over 5 million mpox vaccine doses across 16 countries; and advanced a unified research agenda engaging more than 2,000 African and global scientists.
These efforts delivered measurable impact. Between peak transmission periods in early 2025 and late 2025, suspected cases declined by 40% and confirmed cases by 60%. The case fatality rate among suspected cases fell from 2.6% to 0.6%, reflecting improved detection, care, coordination, and accountability across all levels of response.
The lifting of the PHECS does not mark the end of mpox in Africa. Rather, it signals a transition from emergency response to a sustained, country-led pathway toward elimination. Mpox remains endemic in several settings, and continued vigilance, targeted investment, and innovation will be essential to consolidate gains and prevent resurgence.
To support this transition, Africa CDC, in close collaboration with WHO and partners, will launch the Mpox Transition Roadmap to guide sustained prevention, preparedness, and control; preserve emergency-phase gains; and strengthen national systems for surveillance, laboratories, research, and risk communication. Vaccination will remain central to this effort, alongside strengthened evidence on effectiveness and duration of immunity and accelerated local vaccine manufacturing as part of Africa’s Health Security and Sovereignty agenda.
The mpox response has demonstrated a model that will now be institutionalized across other epidemic-prone diseases, including cholera, diphtheria, measles, and polio—anchoring the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response pillar of Africa’s health security framework.
I extend my sincere appreciation to African Union leadership, Member States, communities, and all IMST partners. This achievement affirms Africa’s resolve to move from emergency response to elimination, from dependency to sovereignty, and from vulnerability to resilience.
Africa CDC remains fully committed to this mission.
H.E. Dr Jean Kaseya
Director General
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC)
