MPX: Addressing Gaps in Research, Prevention and Care

amfAR and the O’Neill Institute at Georgetown Law have released the latest in a series of policy briefs addressing the monkeypox (MPX) outbreak and the actions required to contain it.

MPX Research Gaps: What Remains Unknown calls for researchers to fill in knowledge gaps about the current MPX variant, a mutation that behaves differently compared to the variant circulating in Africa. The brief calls for immediate and longer term clinical, epidemiological, behavioral, and social research studies to better understand: MPX prevention and care; how and when to deliver vaccines; how to deliver preventive services and treatments for maximum individual and population impacts; and any long-term effects. Read the brief here.

A previous brief, released in August, addressed the disproportionate impact of MPX on Black and Latino Communities. It provided key information on reducing stigma surrounding MPX and dismantling structural barriers to care, and encouraging key populations, especially in Black and Latino communities, to take advantage of MPX vaccines, treatment, and other health services. The issue brief focused on specific issues and challenges facing people experiencing homelessness or detention, cisgender women of color, transgender people of color, sex workers, and service providers in these communities. Read the brief here.

The first policy brief, released in July, served as a call to action to address the monkeypox and meningococcal disease public health emergencies. In that brief, amfAR and the O’Neill Institute included a modeling analysis that predicted monkeypox diagnoses in the U.S. would increase to 11,311 by August 4. Eight days after the original projection, the cases had risen to 11, 177 (see chart), underscoring the institutions’ prescient sense of urgency.

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