In July 2022, the World Health Organization declared MPX (also known as monkey pox and mpox) a global public health emergency , and Australia’s Chief Medical Officer declared MPX to be a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance. The urgent need for trusted and up-to-date living evidence was clear.
‘The National Clinical Evidence Taskforce was able to deliver the living evidence Australian clinicians urgently needed on MPX, thanks to generous support from the Walter Cottman Endowment Fund managed by Equity Trustees,’ explains Taskforce Director Prof Tari Turner.
‘On a practical level, this funding enabled us to expand our collaboration with the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) and immediately convene a multidisciplinary expert panel to develop 19 MPX treatment recommendations. The guidelines were updated four times, in just X months. This work highlights both the value of living evidence and the importance of being able to scale up collaborations at speed to provide guidance for clinicians on new and emerging threats.’
In addition to the MPX guidelines, funding from Equity Trustees enabled the Taskforce to develop the evidenceinaction.org micro-site, which offers an eye-catching visual snapshot of the volume and value of the recommendations on COVID-19 and MPX delivered to date. It illustrates the Taskforce living model process, clinical scope, member engagement and far-reaching national and international impact.
‘The support from Equity Trustees ensured we could deliver the trustworthy guidance needed by Australian clinicians – and in addition, that we could also share something of the story of the extraordinary collaborative efforts and impact delivered by the Taskforce over the last three years. We are grateful for the generous funding and support that enabled both these important endeavours.’