WHO says monkeypox is not an international public health emergency, but it should continue to be monitored

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/25/health/monkeypox-who-public-health-emergency/index.html

WHO says monkeypox is not an international public health emergency, but it should continue to be monitored
By Carma Hassan, CNN
Updated 5:55 PM ET, Sat June 25, 2022

Monkeypox: Dr. Gupta explains how it spreads and what the symptoms are

Monkeypox: Dr. Gupta explains how it spreads and what the symptoms are 04:12

(CNN)The World Health Organization has stopped short of declaring the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern as a result of an emergency committee meeting.
The WHO convened an emergency committee meeting Thursday to discuss the severity of the monkeypox outbreak. The result of the meeting was announced Saturday.

"Overall, in the report, they (the emergency committee) advised me that at this moment the event does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, which is the highest level of alert WHO can issue but recognized that the convening of the committee itself reflects the increasing concern about the international spread of monkeypox," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the statement released Saturday.

Tedros on Thursday called for intensified surveillance for monkeypox, cautioning that "while men who have sex with men have been most affected in these new outbreaks, there are also risks of severe disease for immunocompromised persons, pregnant women and children if they are infected."

Health care workers are also at risk if they don't wear appropriate personal protective equipment, Tedros said in his opening remarks at the meeting.

Last week, Tedros said "the virus is behaving unusually from how it used to behave in the past" and as more countries became affected, a coordinated response was necessary.
Saturday's statement acknowledged the "evolving health threat" that the WHO would be following extremely closely...

 

[sharon sanders]

World Health Organization (WHO)

@WHO
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The IHR Emergency Committee for multi-country #monkeypox outbreak advised the WHO DG that the event, currently, does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
@DrTedros
accepted the Committee’s advice. https://bit.ly/3niOHUM

PAHO/WHO and 8 others
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[Pathfinder]

WHO Director-General's statement on the report of the Meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country monkeypox outbreak

Monkeypox outbreak represents evolving threat that needs collective response

25 June 2022

I am deeply concerned by the spread of monkeypox, which has now been identified in more than 50 countries, across five WHO regions, with 3000 cases since early May. The Emergency Committee shared serious concerns about the scale and speed of the current outbreak, noted many unknowns, gaps in current data and prepared a consensus report that reflects differing views amongst the Committee. Overall, in the report, they advised me that at this moment the event does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, which is the highest level of alert WHO can issue, but recognized that the convening of the committee itself reflects the increasing concern about the international spread of monkeypox. They expressed their availability to be reconvened as appropriate.

This is clearly an evolving health threat that my colleagues and I in the WHO Secretariat are following extremely closely. It requires our collective attention and coordinated action now to stop the further spread of monkeypox virus using public health measures including surveillance, contact-tracing, isolation and care of patients, and ensuring health tools like vaccines and treatments are available to at-risk populations and shared fairly.

As the Committee pointed out, monkeypox has been circulating in a number of African countries for decades and has been neglected in terms of research, attention and funding This must change not just for monkeypox but for other neglected diseases in low-income countries as the world is reminded yet again that health is an interconnected proposition.

What makes the current outbreak especially concerning is the rapid, continuing spread into new countries and regions and the risk of further, sustained transmission into vulnerable populations including people that are immunocompromised, pregnant women and children.

That is why it is urgent that all Member States, communities and individuals take the recommendations of the Committee for stepped-up surveillance, improved diagnostics, community engagement and risk communication, and the appropriate use of therapeutics, vaccines, and public health measures including contact tracing and isolation.


Since learning about the outbreak of monkeypox on 7 May, WHO has issued clinical guidance and convened hundreds of scientists and researchers to speed up research and development into monkeypox and the potential for new tools to be developed. WHO has also convened meetings of community members and organizations from the LGBTQI+ community so that health information and advice on protection measures are shared effectively around mass gatherings.

WHO calls on Member States to collaborate, share information, and engage with affected communities so that public health safety measures are communicated quickly and effectively.

WHO calls on Member States and manufacturers to work together to achieve the global public health goals of ensuring that affected populations receive medical countermeasures for monkeypox and that these are used through standardized research and data collection for further evaluation of clinical effectiveness of therapeutics and vaccine effectiveness evaluations.

I thank the scientists and public health experts from around the world who participated in the Emergency Committee. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, follow their advice for continuing vigilance and possible reconvening in the coming days and weeks based on the evolution of the outbreak.


https://www.who.int/news-room/speec...egarding-the-multi-country-monkeypox-outbreak