Today, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the risk of monkeypox is moderate worldwide, with the exception of Europe, where the risk is high.
It had previously been reported that members of a World Health Organization (WHO) expert group were divided on whether the monkeypox outbreak constituted a global health emergency, but the agency’s director-general was expected to issue the highest level of alert on Saturday.
The committee, which met on Thursday, advises WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has the final say on whether to declare a global health emergency.
The designation of “public health emergency of international concern” currently only applies to the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing polio eradication efforts.
Scientists and public health professionals have been putting more pressure on the WHO and national governments to do more to combat monkeypox in recent weeks. More than 14,000 cases and five fatalities have now been reported from 71 WHO member states.
Only about 3,000 cases were present at the end of June when the committee first met.
The WHO alert serves to raise awareness and may also mobilize financial support and international initiatives to cooperate on sharing vaccines and treatments.
Monkeypox already has effective medications and vaccines, but they are scarce. Since the outbreak started in early May, the WHO has also been offering guidance and updates.
The expert committee stated at its initial meeting that if the outbreak worsened, it would review its stance on the emergency declaration.
🚨 BREAKING:
“For all of these reasons, I have decided that the global #monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern.”-@DrTedros pic.twitter.com/qvmYX1ZBAL— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 23, 2022
