WHO says monkeypox currently not a global health emergency
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LONDON • Monkeypox is not yet a global health emergency, the World Health Organisation (WHO) ruled on Saturday, although WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was deeply concerned about the outbreak.
"I am deeply concerned about the monkeypox outbreak, this is clearly an evolving health threat that my colleagues and I in the WHO secretariat are following extremely closely," Mr Tedros said in a statement.
He said the outbreak needed immediate action to stop its further spread, using surveillance, contact-tracing, isolation and care of patients, and ensuring vaccines and treatments are available to at-risk populations.
WHO said in a separate statement that although there were some differing views within the committee, the members ultimately agreed by consensus that at this stage the outbreak is not a public health emergency of international concern.
The "global emergency" label currently only applies to the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing efforts to eradicate polio, and the UN agency has stepped back from applying it to the monkeypox outbreak after advice from a meeting of international experts.
There have been more than 3,200 confirmed cases of monkeypox and one death reported in the last six weeks from 48 countries, according to WHO.
A surge in cases has been detected since early May outside of the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.
Most of the new cases have been in Western Europe.
Monkeypox, a viral illness causing flu-like symptoms and skin lesions, has been spreading largely among men who have sex with men outside the countries where it is endemic.
There are vaccines and treatments available for monkeypox, although they are in limited supply.
Some global health experts said WHO may be hesitant to make a declaration because its January 2020 declaration that the novel coronavirus represented a public health emergency was largely met with scepticism around the world.
But others said the outbreak met the criteria to be called an emergency. Yale University's associate professor of epidemiology Gregg Gonsalves, who advised the committee but is not a member of WHO, told Reuters by e-mail on Saturday that he thought the decision was "misguided".
"It met all the criteria but they decided to punt on this momentous decision," he said.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
