MONKEYPOX OUTBREAK IS NOT A GLOBAL EMERGENCY AT THIS TIME, SAYS WHO

Sun 26 June 2022:

The outbreak of monkeypox in more than 50 countries has not yet been declared a worldwide emergency, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which announced this decision on Saturday.

The assessment was made following three days of discussions in Geneva by the monkeypox emergency committee of the UN health agency, which is made up of independent experts from all over the world.

The WHO stated that if the rate of infection and the number of countries affected increase in the upcoming weeks, the committee is prepared to reevaluate the data and perhaps declare a global health emergency.

The WHO is also keeping an eye out for signals that the virus is evolving, such as a clustering of cases among vulnerable groups.

“I am deeply concerned by the spread of monkeypox, which has now been identified in more than 50 countries, across five WHO regions, with 3,000 cases since the early May,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Increased measures – such as surveillance, risk communication, contact tracing, isolation, treatment and vaccination – must be used to contain the outbreak, he said Saturday night.

Designating a global public health emergency has no immediate practical consequences beyond making governments and the public more vigilant.

On January 30, 2020, the WHO designated the new coronavirus a global public health emergency.

Close physical touch is how monkeypox spreads. According to medical experts, the pandemic appears to be primarily affecting guys who have had sexual contact with several other men.

Although the disease is treatable, it does have a phase where there are unpleasant skin rashes.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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