Unlocking the potentials of community health workers for effective control of mpox outbreaks in Africa

TL;DR

Community health workers can help control mpox outbreaks in Africa by raising awareness, correcting misinformation, and supporting vaccination efforts.

Contribution

The paper highlights the underutilized potential of community health workers in mpox outbreak response and outlines their roles in awareness, surveillance, and vaccine acceptance.

Findings

Community health workers can effectively raise awareness and deliver culturally appropriate preventive messages.

CHWs can conduct door-to-door surveillance to identify mpox cases and reduce community transmission.

Well-trained CHWs can address vaccine hesitancy and improve vaccine acceptance through trust-based communication.

Abstract

Since May 2022, multiple countries have reported clusters of monkeypox (mpox) virus infections. In response to the current upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and an increasing number of African countries, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox as a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security and a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on the 13th and 14th of August, 2024, respectively. Although community health workers (CHWs) were instrumental in controlling the 2014/2015 Ebola outbreak across West Africa, little attention is given to their potential importance of CHWs in the prevention and control of large-scale mpox outbreaks. Community health workers (CHWs) are often considered trusted voices in the community and can be critical to help raise awareness on mpox and deliver preventive messages in a sensitive and culturally appropriate manner. Moreover, CHWs can be instrumental in addressing common misconceptions and false rumours that hinder healthcare-seeking behaviours. Another adaptive role played by well-trained and adequately equipped CHWs is surveillance through door-to-door active case finding of mpox cases, which is crucial in reducing dissemination at community level. Effectively tackling vaccine hesitancy is essential to ensure herd immunity and enhance mpox response. Community health workers (CHWs) can be seen as crucial resources in addressing myths and rumours, which are critical drivers of concerns on mpox vaccine safety and side effects; thus, bolstering vaccine acceptance and coverage. Community health workers (CHWs) play a central role in fostering partnership and collaboration between communities, health authorities and response actors for a harmonized approach to tackle mpox outbreaks.