How can we address stigma and tackle discrimination?
- Collaborate with existing social and health networks to reach priority populations, seeking input from community experts on appropriate approaches and data collection tools. For instance, when engaging sex workers affected by mpox, work closely with HIV programs.
- Train surveillance officers to conduct interviews with empathy, ensuring patient confidentiality when handling sensitive information.
- Regularly assess within the surveillance team how stigma affects health behaviours and data collection and discuss how it influences data interpretation.
- Implement a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that provides linkage to care, including psychosocial support, for all affected individuals and their families.
- Carefully select or co-create images and illustrations with communities to accurately depict mpox without reinforcing stereotypes. Avoid stigmatizing language that links individuals to the disease or defines them by their condition.
- Clearly communicate the different clades/variants circulating and the various modes of transmission relevant to the local context to avoid misinformation.
- If uncertain about how outreach will be received, gather and review existing data with community leaders or local experts to ensure that your messaging and actions are culturally sensitive and appropriate.
- Do not reuse outdated mpox materials from the 2022 outbreak. Instead, co-create and adjust new materials that reflect current data, knowledge, risk perception, and community concerns for the local context.
