Readout of Secretary Becerra’s Meeting with WHO and Africa CDC on Mpox

On Thursday, September 26, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra alongside HHS, Department of State (DOS), and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) leadership, hosted a meeting with World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director General Jean Kaseya to discuss the current mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Secretary opened the meeting by reaffirming the U.S. Government’s commitment to collaboration and support for the region, including the recently announced $500 million in bilateral aid and one million mpox vaccine doses to affected African countries to prevent and respond to this evolving crisis. He reiterated this fight cannot be done in siloes and open communication, transparency, and partnership are vital to a successful response. The Secretary encouraged WHO and Africa CDC to further implement the Continental Joint Action Plan and utilize the resources and expertise available to combat the mpox outbreak, highlighting that we will work with our bilateral and multilateral partners to support efforts to end the outbreak. The Secretary emphasized the importance of leadership of WHO and Africa CDC on the continent and pledged the continued U.S. Government partnership and support in the response, which must also include preventing sexual exploitation and abuse.

WHO and Africa CDC reiterated their commitment to continuing their leadership on the continent and to increase communication and implementation with governmental and non-governmental partners.