Following a worldwide upsurge in Monkey pox cases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the virus a global health emergency.
WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who made the declaration at the end of the second meeting of the WHO’s emergency committee on the virus, said more than 16,000 cases have now been reported from 75 countries, adding that there had been five deaths so far as a result of the outbreak.
Ghebreyesus said the emergency committee had been unable to reach a consensus on whether the monkeypox outbreak should be classified as a global health emergency. However, due to the fact that the outbreak had spread around the world rapidly, the DG said he had decided that it was indeed of international concern.
Too little was understood about the new modes of transmission which had allowed it to spread, Ghebreyesus added.
“The WHO’s assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region, where we assess the risk as high. There was also a clear risk of further international spread, although the risk of interference with international traffic remained low for the moment,” he added.
Ghebreyesus said the declaration would help speed up the development of vaccines and the implementation of measures to limit the spread of the virus, adding that WHO is also issuing recommendations which it hopes will spur countries to take action to stop transmission of the virus and protect those most at risk.
“This is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups,” he said.
