Media Release

Udupi, Sep 6: The Global Monkeypox Policy Tracker - dashboard was developed by the Prasanna School of Public Health at Manipal Academy of Higher Education to help track and monitor the spread of monkeypox. The dashboard has also included policies or guidelines on monkeypox prevention, control, and management that have been proposed and implemented in G20 countries. Following these changes enables for evidence-informed policy for the prevention and control of monkeypox.

Link to the dashboard: https://tinyurl.com/Monkeypox-Policy-Tracker

The dashboard was created by a collaboration of PSPH researchers, including Viola Savy D’Souza, PhD scholar, Dr Sanjay Pattanshetty, Head of Department of Global Health Governance, Cauvery K, research fellow, Rohit Raj, field investigator, and Prof Dr Helmut Brand, founding director, PSPH. The dashboard was created primarily by Viola Savy D’Souza and Dr Sanjay Pattanshetty. It went live on August 23, 2022.

Viola D’Souza said, “We created the dashboard with focus on enabling policy makers and stakeholders to utilise it as a visual situation report on the monkeypox. Global solidarity is necessary to overcome global threats. To address global threats there is need for global policy coherence to address Public Health Emergency of International Concern(PHEIC). All policy action needs to be inclusive, gender sensitive, timely, proportional and equitable to be effective in prevention and control of PHEIC.”

For nearly a month, the team has been working on the dashboard to make it more engaging and to provide comprehensive information on the present situation in a way that policymakers and the general population can easily comprehend. The dashboard is regularly updated to reflect subsequent changes in data and policies.