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<p>The unprecedented dual declaration of Mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in 2022 and 2024 by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights the persistent threat of infectious diseases in the post-COVID era. With over 100,000 confirmed cases across 122 countries and an urgent demand for millions of vaccine doses, particularly in Africa, global attention has rightly focused on robust response and preparedness strategies, including enhancing diagnostics and developing medical countermeasures. Amidst this medical urgency, the profound influence of social, mental, and behavioral (SMB) factors, a crucial dimension of outbreak management, is frequently overlooked. This article addresses this critical gap by synthesizing current literature and presenting a structured, people-centric framework for Mpox countermeasures. It is based on a comprehensive search of academic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar) and key policy documents from the WHO, CDC, and Lancet Commissions. We identify that existing evidence on the relationship between Mpox and social determinants of health, mental well-being, and behavioral responses is often limited or conflicting. Issues such as stigma, discrimination, and misinformation lead to social exclusion and adverse mental and behavioral changes, which in turn impede prevention efforts, discourage testing, and delay access to timely care, thereby undermining public health initiatives. To address these barriers, which are compounded by the perceived intangibility of social interventions and economic sanctions, we advocate for shifting from a disease-centric to a people-centric approach. We propose the application of implementation frameworks rooted in established social science theories and introduce a Theory of Change model to rigorously measure the impact of these interventions. Such a tailored, contextual, and measurable shift is essential in achieving shared success, building enduring societal resilience, and achieving a resilience dividend alongside technological advancements.</p>

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Social, mental, and behavioral considerations in Mpox countermeasures: call for people-centric approaches for shared success

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年11月26日

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  • Sanchita Chakraborty,
  • S R Rao,
  • Abhijit Poddar

摘要

The unprecedented dual declaration of Mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in 2022 and 2024 by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights the persistent threat of infectious diseases in the post-COVID era. With over 100,000 confirmed cases across 122 countries and an urgent demand for millions of vaccine doses, particularly in Africa, global attention has rightly focused on robust response and preparedness strategies, including enhancing diagnostics and developing medical countermeasures. Amidst this medical urgency, the profound influence of social, mental, and behavioral (SMB) factors, a crucial dimension of outbreak management, is frequently overlooked. This article addresses this critical gap by synthesizing current literature and presenting a structured, people-centric framework for Mpox countermeasures. It is based on a comprehensive search of academic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar) and key policy documents from the WHO, CDC, and Lancet Commissions. We identify that existing evidence on the relationship between Mpox and social determinants of health, mental well-being, and behavioral responses is often limited or conflicting. Issues such as stigma, discrimination, and misinformation lead to social exclusion and adverse mental and behavioral changes, which in turn impede prevention efforts, discourage testing, and delay access to timely care, thereby undermining public health initiatives. To address these barriers, which are compounded by the perceived intangibility of social interventions and economic sanctions, we advocate for shifting from a disease-centric to a people-centric approach. We propose the application of implementation frameworks rooted in established social science theories and introduce a Theory of Change model to rigorously measure the impact of these interventions. Such a tailored, contextual, and measurable shift is essential in achieving shared success, building enduring societal resilience, and achieving a resilience dividend alongside technological advancements.