The Ministers discussed ways to strengthen public health surveillance at national level and on how cross-border disease surveillance should be coordinated to improve the rate of detection, strengthen prevention, and limit the spread of Mpox.

   Douglas Mombeshora, Minister of Health and Childcare for the Republic of Zimbabwe and Chairperson of the SADC Ministerial Committee on Health, urged the region to use lessons learnt from previous outbreaks to mitigate against current and future outbreaks. He said early outbreak response as a region using combined efforts as a block is very critical.

   Mombeshora said early regional outbreak response mechanism through combined efforts remains very critical and encouraged Member States to mobilize the much needed financial and human resources for the immediate response to Mpox and other future outbreaks.

   He urged to deploy experts to respond to the affected countries to reduce the spread of the Mpox outbreak to other countries.

   For her part, Angele Makombo N’tumba, SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration, underscored that the Mpox outbreak requires a multisectoral and coordinated response from different sectors including those responsible for animal health programs, disaster risk reduction, trade, transport, immigration and port health and the community at large.

   She said no Member State can singlehandedly manage the enormous challenge of containing the spread of Mpox without strong regional collaboration on cross-border surveillance.

   She noted that while the increase in trade between SADC countries signals improved economic cooperation between Member States, the intense movements of people, goods and services are often a strong factor in cross-border transmission of diseases.

   She urged all Member States including those with no Mpox outbreaks at present to intensify their public health surveillance and ensure that conditions that are likely to fuel an outbreak are eliminated through strong mitigation measures.

   She further urged them to continue the implementation of policies that support the building of stronger healthcare systems by focusing on high-value healthcare investments and consistent monitoring of the health systems performance.

   During the meeting, the Ministers noted the Mpox situation in the region and urged to develop and implement Multisectoral National Mpox response plans, integrating the One Health Approach which encourages collaborative efforts of many experts working across human, animal, and environmental health to improve the health of people and animals.

   The Ministers urged to strengthen regional collaboration on cross-border outbreak risk assessment and public health surveillance and information sharing and preventive measures and to increase mobilization of domestic resources including the active involvement of the private sector.

   They call to strengthen Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) and Infection Prevention and Control Measures, to prioritize a phased approach in rolling out vaccinations giving priority to children and those most at risk, ensure continuity of essential services whilst responding to Mpox and to invest in scientific research to develop evidence-based strategies to respond to Mpox.

   The Ministers directed the Secretariat to work in collaboration with technical and financial partners to provide essential support to Member States that are currently experiencing the Mpox outbreaks, convene regular meetings of the multisectoral technical committee on the implementation of the SADC Protocol on Health, to assess and monitor the Mpox situation and report to the sectoral committee of Ministers of Health and requested International Cooperating Partners (ICPs) to mobilize resources, including vaccines and diagnostics for a robust regional response.

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SADC: The main objectives of SADC are to achieve development, peace and security, and economic growth, to alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa, and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration, built on democratic principles and equitable and sustainable development.

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