GHS Conducts Intra-Action Review on MPOX Outbreak Response
The Ghana Health Service (GHS), in conjunction with all One Health stakeholders, has completed a two-day Intra-Action Review of the country’s response to the ongoing Mpox outbreak.
Approximately a year after a series of confirmed Mpox cases sent health teams racing into action, the review sought to account for and evaluate the current response.
The meeting brought together animal, environmental and security agencies, as well as regional and district-level health staff, senior management and international development partners to assess the effectiveness of the national response and determine the measures required to bring the outbreak to a conclusive end.
The current outbreak began on 9 May 2025, following the confirmation of a case in the Accra Metropolitan Area of the Greater Accra Region.
As of July 31, 2026, the country had recorded 5,280 suspected cases nationwide, of which 1,085 were laboratory-confirmed. Of these confirmed cases, 1,074 individuals have fully recovered, while eight deaths have been recorded.
All sixteen regions and 128 of the country’s 261 districts have reported confirmed cases since the onset of the outbreak. Active transmission has since slowed down considerably, and recent confirmed cases have been reported from only 3 districts in 2 regions.
In an opening remarks delivered on behalf of the Director General, Dr. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, by the Deputy Director, Disease Control Department, Dr. Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, he thanked the representatives of the various ministries, divisional, regional and district directors of the Service, representatives of the teaching hospitals and quasi government hospitals, the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, and partners from the World Health Organization, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, JHPIEGO, and UNICEF, for responding to the call to undertake the review in accordance with the International Health Regulations of 2005.
He stated that the exercise was not a performance evaluation of any institution or individual but a structured and participatory process intended to help all relevant agencies take stock of their contributions to the Mpox response and to strengthen it.
In his speech, he encouraged participants to speak candidly, as the value of the exercise rested on the honesty of the deliberations.
He emphasised that over the course of the two days, participants are expected to work in five technical groups covering surveillance and vaccination, case management and infection prevention and control, laboratory services, risk communication and community engagement, as well as coordination, including logistics.
The findings arising from these sessions will inform the priority actions and roadmap to be developed during the subsequent action-planning session and will also contribute to the institutional memory of the Service for future public health emergencies.
The Intra-Action Review was convened in line with the requirements of the International Health Regulations of 2005, which call for such reviews to be undertaken during protracted outbreaks.
Ghana has experienced two Mpox outbreaks, the first between 2023 and 2024, and the current outbreak, which began in May 2025.
The objective of the review is to assess how existing capacities were applied to prepare for, prevent, detect, and respond to the outbreak, to highlight best practices as well as the challenges encountered, to capture the experiences of response staff, and to identify actions to improve capacities and consolidate best practices in order to bring the outbreak to an end.
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