The meeting was held in Kinshasa, DRC, on 27th and 28th November 2024. It aimed to put communities at the center of the collective efforts to stop mpox outbreaks. It had a specific focus on driving local level impact by advancing ways that social and behavioural evidence can be used rapidly and systematically to inform response. Prof. Didier Bompangue (UNIKIN, DRC) and Dr. Dario Scaramuzzi (R-EvoWW, Italy) presented the MPOX-PROBE work package on community perceptions (WP5, KAP and behavioural study in RoC and DRC). The project has generated a lot of interest, as it is a unique, combining One Health with Social and Behavioural Science, allowing to understand how social interaction between humans, but also between humans and animals and between humans and environment, could influence Mpox outbreak.

Please find below Dr Dario Scaramuzzi with Dr Jean Marie Vianney Habarugira from The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (GH EDCTP3 JU; Image 1 below); Prof. Didier Bompangue and Dr. Dario Scaramuzzi with Prof. Placide Mbala (Image 2); the slide with general information about MPOX-PROBE (Image 3); the group photo with the conference attendees (Image 4).