The mpox outbreak that resulted in the joint declaration of Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS) and Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) continues to persist on the continent. Twenty-six countries now report cases concomitant with increased imported cases and deaths among the vulnerable populations.

The current statistics reveal that recurrent mpox outbreaks threaten both endemic regions and global health security. Endemic mpox continues to resurface, yet effective medical countermeasures (MCMs) remain inadequate, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) partly due to limited research and development (R&D) infrastructure.
For Africa to leapfrog in local manufacturing, it must develop robust R&D in its natural medicines that has served its people from time immemorial.

Over 70% of the global population rely on traditional medicine where Africa thrives. Yet, this remains a largely untapped opportunity due to substantial lack of clinical trials to validate the safety and efficacy of natural therapeutics. This gap limits healthcare access and weakens universal health coverage efforts in LMICs. Additionally, fragmented research efforts, insufficient funding, lack of information on African scientists leading advances in natural therapeutics and the absence of systematic clinical research networks hinder the utilization of our natural therapeutics for outbreak response. Collaborative research is essential to address ongoing and future mpox outbreaks effectively.

In response, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in collaboration with the Makerere Lung Institute–Interdisciplinary Consortium for Epidemic Research (MLI-ICER), the University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN), the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Uganda, and the Ministry of Scientific Research of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have agreed to co-host a scientific meeting of African scientists that specializes natural therapeutics to evaluate ongoing research on mpox natural therapeutics.

Goal
To strengthen mpox outbreak response in endemic African countries by leveraging Africa CDC’s Traditional Medicines Platform, Uganda’s Clinical Trials and DRC’s Clinical Trials on Natural Therapeutics (CONAT) program to advance natural Therapeutics research and improve patient outcomes.

Specific Objectives

  1. Strengthen collaborative Africa CDC, MLI-ICER and UNIKIN platforms to map and optimize existing research infrastructure and scientific products of therapeutics for mpox that can be moved to clinical trials
  2. Use the meeting conduct a rapid survey of African centers specializing in infectious disease natural therapeutics
  3. Engage stakeholders and evaluate natural investigational products for potential use in treating mpox

Expected Outcomes
Immediate

  1. Identify candidate mpox natural therapeutic products
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