GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday (Jul 23) declared the
monkeypox outbreak, which has affected nearly 17,000 people in 74 countries, to be a global health emergency -- the highest alarm it can sound.
"I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference.
He said a committee of experts who met on Thursday was unable to reach a consensus, so it fell to him to decide whether to trigger the highest alert possible.
Washington welcomed the WHO's declaration as "a call to action for the world community to stop the spread of this virus".
"A coordinated, international response is essential to stop the spread of monkeypox, protect communities at greatest risk of contracting the disease, and combat the current outbreak," said Raj Panjabi, senior director for the White House's global health security and biodefence division.
Tedros noted that when he convened the WHO Emergency Committee last month to assess if the outbreak represented a public health emergency of international concern, there were 3,040 reported cases of monkeypox from 47 countries.
"Since then, the outbreak has continued to grow, and there are now more than 16,000 reported cases from 75 countries and territories, and five deaths," he said.
"We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little, and which meets the criteria in the International Health Regulations."
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/monkeypox-global-health-emergency-rising-cases-who-2831241
