GENEVA, Switzerland — The
World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday it will reconvene
its monkeypox experts to decide if the worsening outbreak now constitutes a
global public health emergency — the highest level of alert.
اضافة اعلان
The UN health
agency’s director-general
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he would hold a
second meeting of the emergency committee on monkeypox, with more than 6,000
cases now confirmed in 58 countries.
A surge in
monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the West and
Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.
“I continue to be
concerned by the scale and spread of the virus,” Tedros told a press conference
from the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva.
“Testing remains
a challenge and it’s highly probable that there are a significant number of
cases not being picked up.”
On June 23, the
WHO convened an emergency committee of experts to decide if monkeypox
constitutes a so-called
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) — the highest alarm that the WHO can sound.
But a majority
found the situation had not yet crossed that threshold.
Europe epicenter
“My teams are following the data. I plan to reconvene the emergency
committee so they’re updated on the current epidemiology and evolution of the
monkeypox outbreak, and implementation of counter measures,” Tedros said.
“I will bring
them together in the week of July 18 or sooner if needed.”
The WHO’s
16-member emergency committee on monkeypox is chaired by Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele
from the
Democratic Republic of Congo, who is a former director of the WHO’s
Vaccines and Immunization Department.
There have been
six PHEIC declarations since 2009, the last being for Covid-19 in 2020 — though
the sluggish global response to the alarm bell still rankles at the WHO’s
headquarters.
A PHEIC was
declared after a third emergency committee meeting on January 30 that year. But
it was only after March 11, when Tedros described the rapidly worsening situation
as a pandemic, that many countries seemed to wake up to the danger.
Tedros said
Europe was the current epicenter of the outbreak, recording more than 80
percent of monkeypox cases globally this year.
In Africa, cases
are appearing in countries not previously affected and record numbers are being
recorded in places which have previous experience with monkeypox, he added.
Vaccines scarce
Most monkeypox infections so far have been observed in men who have sex
with men, of young age and chiefly in urban areas, according to the WHO.
The normal
initial symptoms of
monkeypox include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes and a
blistery chickenpox-like rash.
Initial outbreak
cases had no epidemiological links to areas that have historically reported
monkeypox, suggesting that undetected transmission might have been going on for
some time.
Tedros commended
people sharing videos on social media talking about their symptoms and
experiences with monkeypox.
“This is a
positive way to break down the stigma about a virus that can affect anyone,” he
said.
The WHO’s current
plan to contain the spread focuses on raising awareness among affected
population groups and encouraging safe behaviors and protective measures.
“WHO is working
with countries and vaccine manufacturers to coordinate the sharing of vaccine,
which are currently scarce and need to be accessible to the most at risk
people,” said Tedros.
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