Mary Wilson
Well-known member
12 May 2023
Layal Liverpool
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on 11 May that mpox is no longer a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) — but researchers are concerned that the decision will draw critical resources away from curbing the outbreak, which is still prevalent in regions including Africa.
“My biggest worry is that investments and resources for tackling mpox will dwindle, and efforts triggered by the 2022 outbreak will not be sustained,” says Boghuma Titanji, a physician-scientist in infectious diseases at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The WHO director-general made the decision after a recommendation by the organization’s mpox emergency committee on 10 May.
“We have many problems we are facing in Africa,” says Dimie Ogoina, an infectious-disease physician at Niger Delta University in Amassoma, Nigeria. Ogoina is a member of the WHO emergency committee, but he didn’t fully agree with its consensus recommendation to end the PHEIC. “The disease will be neglected just the way it has been neglected for a long time before the 2022 outbreak,” he says. ...
Millions of vaccines have been distributed to tackle the outbreak, but mostly in rich countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Vaccines and treatments have largely been out of the reach of African nations. ...
In his announcement, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed to global progress in controlling the mpox outbreak in recent months, noting that there were almost 90% fewer cases reported in the past three months compared with the previous three. However, the WHO’s latest situation report, published on 11 May, suggests a slight rise in cases globally in the past week. ...
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01581-1
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01581-1
Layal Liverpool
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on 11 May that mpox is no longer a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) — but researchers are concerned that the decision will draw critical resources away from curbing the outbreak, which is still prevalent in regions including Africa.
“My biggest worry is that investments and resources for tackling mpox will dwindle, and efforts triggered by the 2022 outbreak will not be sustained,” says Boghuma Titanji, a physician-scientist in infectious diseases at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The WHO director-general made the decision after a recommendation by the organization’s mpox emergency committee on 10 May.
“We have many problems we are facing in Africa,” says Dimie Ogoina, an infectious-disease physician at Niger Delta University in Amassoma, Nigeria. Ogoina is a member of the WHO emergency committee, but he didn’t fully agree with its consensus recommendation to end the PHEIC. “The disease will be neglected just the way it has been neglected for a long time before the 2022 outbreak,” he says. ...
Millions of vaccines have been distributed to tackle the outbreak, but mostly in rich countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Vaccines and treatments have largely been out of the reach of African nations. ...
In his announcement, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed to global progress in controlling the mpox outbreak in recent months, noting that there were almost 90% fewer cases reported in the past three months compared with the previous three. However, the WHO’s latest situation report, published on 11 May, suggests a slight rise in cases globally in the past week. ...
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01581-1
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01581-1