- The declaration is the WHO’s highest alert level
- Tedros breaks deadlock at advisory committee
- The decision was welcomed as a way to slow the spread of the disease
July 23 (Reuters) – The fast-spreading monkeypox outbreak represents a global health emergency, the World Health Organization’s highest alert level, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom said on Saturday Ghebreyesus.
The WHO label – a “public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)” – is designed to trigger a coordinated international response and could unlock funds to collaborate on the sharing of vaccines and treatments.
Members of an expert committee that met on Thursday to discuss the possible recommendation were split on the decision, with nine members against and six in favor of the declaration, prompting Tedros himself to break the ‘stagnation, he told reporters.
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“While I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern, for now this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, particularly those with multiple sex partners,” Tedros told a conference to the media in Geneva. Read more
“Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus,” he added.
He said the risk of monkeypox, which spreads by close contact and tends to cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions, was moderate globally, except in Europe, where the WHO has deemed the risk is high. Read more
Previously, Tedros had typically backed the expert committee’s recommendations, but the two sources told Reuters on Saturday that he had likely decided to back the higher alert level because of concerns about rising case rates. and the scarce supply of vaccines and treatments.
So far this year, there have been more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox in more than 75 countries and five deaths in Africa.
The viral disease has spread primarily in men who have sex with men during the recent outbreak outside of Africa, where it is endemic.
Health experts welcomed WHO’s decision to issue the PHEIC statement, which until now had only applied to the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing efforts to eradicate polio.
Test tubes labeled ‘Monkeypox virus positive and negative’ are seen in this illustration on May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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“The right result is clear: Not declaring an emergency at this time would be a historic missed opportunity,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown Law in Washington, DC, who called the decision politically courageous.
The decision should help contain the spread of the viral disease, said Josie Golding, head of epidemics and epidemiology at the Wellcome Trust.
“We can’t afford to keep waiting for diseases to increase before we intervene,” he said.
JUNE MEETING
WHO and national governments have faced intense pressure from scientists and public health experts to take more action against monkeypox.
Cases of the viral disease have increased since the committee first met in late June, when there were only about 3,000 cases.
The panel of experts then agreed to reconsider its position on the emergency declaration if the outbreak escalated.
One of the key issues that prompted a reassessment was whether cases are spreading to other groups, particularly children or others who have been vulnerable to the virus in past outbreaks in endemic countries.
On Friday, the United States identified its first two cases of smallpox in children. Read more
WHO officials said on Saturday that they were exploring the possibility that the virus was spreading through new modes of transmission.
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Reporting by Jennifer Rigby and Natalie Grover in London and John Revill in Zurich Editing by Helen Popper
Our standards: the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.