The Ghana Health Service, 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 31st July 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.
Speaking on behalf of the USCDC, Dr Eunice Baiden commended the Ghana Health Service for the initiative in undertaking the review and expressed the CDC’s commitment to supporting the documentation and dissemination of the lessons learned.
Dr Sally Ann-Ohene, of the World Health Organization, stated that the review would allow for a collective reflection on what had been in place, what had worked, and what had not worked, and reaffirmed the organisation's continued commitment to working alongside the Ghana Health Service.
Dr James Sarkodie of JHPIEGO commended the Ghana Health Service and other One Health stakeholders across the country for their dedication during the detection and containment of the outbreak.
In a technical presentation, Deputy Director and Head of the Disease Surveillance Department, Dr Dennis Laryea reported that, as of 31 July 2026, all sixteen regions had recorded cases of Mpox. As of that date, the total number of confirmed cases stood at 1,084, of which 1,074 had recovered and eight had died, while the total number of suspected cases stood at 5,280. However, he also noted that a significant reduction in case numbers had been observed since the first quarter of 2026, with current active cases found only in three districts across two regions.
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 practice in order to bring the outbreak to an end.