NCSD Sends Letter to White House Requesting an Emergency Monkeypox Summit and $100 Million in Response Funding 

Outbreak cannot be halted without significant collaboration and funding 

For Immediate Release: June 9, 2022 
Contact: Elizabeth Finley, efinley@ncsddc.org, 919-749-7309  

Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) sent a letter to the White House requesting that the administration advance a $100 million funding request to Congress to support a coordinated federal monkeypox response. The letter also urged the White House to convene a summit this month to address the outbreak.  

“While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has taken important steps in the initial response,“ writes David C. Harvey, NCSD executive director, in the letter, “we cannot halt an expanding outbreak at current funding levels or without significant collaboration among stakeholders.” 

As monkeypox numbers grow, leaders in the STD field worry that chronic underfunding, the burgeoning STD epidemic, and years of redeploying workers to the COVID-19 response have put a terrible strain on infrastructure and limit the nation’s ability to mount an effective response to monkeypox. The virus’ symptoms mimic symptoms of common STDs and can be transmitted during sexual contact, requiring state and local health officials to tap into the field’s expertise in disease detection, contact tracing, symptom monitoring, and community education, as well as community connections and trust.  

The summit would provide an opportunity to coordinate the CDC, NIH, scientists, and community groups across issues. The $100 million in funding would scale outreach efforts, support clinical education, develop better diagnostic tools, bolster the public health workforce, and prepare the nation in the event vaccines are needed.  

Harvey’s request continues, “We are entering this outbreak with critical lessons learned from both the HIV and STD epidemics and the COVID-19 pandemic, and we cannot afford missteps.”  

Read the full letter here.

About The National Coalition of STD Directors  

The National Coalition of STD Directors is a national public health membership organization representing health department STD directors, their support staff, and community-based partners across 50 states, seven large cities, and eight U.S. territories. Our mission is to advance effective STD prevention programs and services across the country. NCSD does this as the voice of our membership. We provide leadership, build capacity, convene partners, and advocate. Go to ncsddc.org for more information. 

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