The World Health Organization convened its emergency committee on Thursday to consider whether the monkey’s smallpox spiral justifies a global emergency.
But some experts say the WHO’s decision to act only after the disease has spilled over into the West could entrench the grotesque inequalities that arose between rich and poor countries during the coronavirus pandemic.
Declaring smallpox smallpox a global emergency would mean that the UN health agency considers the outbreak to be an “extraordinary event” and that the disease runs the risk of spreading across even more borders, possibly requiring a global response. . It would also give the monkeypox the same distinction as the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.
The WHO said it did not expect to announce any decision taken by its emergency committee before Friday.
Many scientists doubt that this statement will help curb the epidemic, as developed countries that record the most recent cases are already moving quickly to close it.
Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the recent monkeypox epidemic identified in more than 40 countries, most of Europe, as “unusual and worrying”. Smallpox has been sick for decades in Central and West Africa, where one version of the disease kills up to 10% of infected people.
The version of the disease seen in Europe and elsewhere usually has a mortality rate of less than one percent and so far no deaths have been reported beyond Africa.
“If the WHO was really concerned about the spread of monkeypox, it could have convened its emergency committee years ago when it emerged in Nigeria in 2017 and no one knew why we suddenly had hundreds of cases,” he said. Oyewale Tomori, a sitting Nigerian virologist. in various WHO advisory groups.
“It’s a little curious that the WHO only called its experts when the disease appeared in white countries.”
Until last month, smallpox had not caused major outbreaks beyond Africa. Scientists have not found any mutations in the virus that suggest it is more transmissible, and a senior WHO adviser said last month that the increase in cases in Europe was probably related to sexual activity between gay men and women. bisexuals in two radishes in Spain and Belgium. .
To date, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed more than 3,300 cases of monkeypox in 42 countries where the virus has not normally been seen. More than 80% of cases are in Europe. Meanwhile, Africa has already seen more than 1,400 cases this year, including 62 deaths.
“Standard Double” Expert Questions
David Fidler, a senior global health member of the Foreign Affairs Council, said WHO’s new focus on monkeypox in the midst of its spread beyond Africa could inadvertently worsen the observed divide between rich and poor countries. during COVID-19.
“There may be legitimate reasons why the WHO only sounded the alarm when smallpox spread to rich countries, but in poor countries, that seems like a double standard,” Fidler said. He said the world community was still struggling to make sure the world’s poor were vaccinated against coronavirus and that it was unclear whether Africans even wanted vaccines against monkeypox, given competing priorities such as malaria and HIV.
“Unless African governments specifically ask for vaccines, it might be a bit paternalistic to send them because it’s in the West’s interest to prevent monkeypox from being exported,” Fidler said.
The WHO has also proposed the creation of a vaccine-sharing mechanism to help affected countries, which could see doses in rich countries such as Britain, which has the largest smallpox outbreak beyond Africa, and recently has expanded its use of vaccines.
So far, the vast majority of cases in Europe have occurred in gay or bisexual men, or in other men who have sex with men, but scientists warn that anyone who is in close contact with an infected person or their clothing or sheets are at risk of infection. , regardless of their sexual orientation. People with monkeypox often experience symptoms such as fever, body aches, and rash; most recover in a few weeks without medical attention.
In this color transmission electron micrograph a particle of the monkeypox virus is seen. (UK Health Safety Agency / Scientific Photo Library)
Even if the WHO announces that smallpox of the monkey is a global emergency, it is not clear what impact it could have.
In January 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 an international emergency. But few countries realized it until March, when the organization described it as a pandemic, weeks after many other authorities did. The WHO was later criticized for its multiple mistakes during the pandemic, which some experts said could be provoking a faster response from monkeypox.
“After COVID, the WHO does not want to be the last to declare monkeypox as an emergency,” said Amanda Glassman, executive vice president of the Center for Global Development. “This may not reach the level of a COVID-like emergency, but it is still a public health emergency that needs to be addressed.”
Salim Abdool Karim, epidemiologist and vice-chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, said the WHO and others should do more to stop the smallpox of the monkey in Africa and elsewhere, but he was not convinced that a global declaration of emergency would help.
“There is this misconception that Africa is this poor and defenseless continent, when in fact, we know how to deal with epidemics,” Abdool Karim said. He said stopping the outbreak ultimately depends on things like surveillance, isolating patients and public education.
“They may need vaccines in Europe to stop smallpox, but here we have been able to control it with very simple measures,” he said.