South Africa supports the international call to members of the scholarly publishing community to enable open access to the real-time scientific evidence needed to contain the spread of the monkeypox virus.

As with Covid-19, a coordinated international response is needed to contain the spread of the virus and protect vulnerable communities. This requires the rapid sharing of research results and data across disciplines, including the biomedical, clinical, veterinary, environmental, economic and social sciences.

As stated in the White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation, South Africa supports open access to public-good data, and therefore joins the appeal to publishers to voluntarily agree to make their monkeypox-related publications immediately accessible in appropriate public repositories to support ongoing public health emergency response efforts.