Monkeypox declared a Global Health Emergency by WHO

Monkeypox has been found in 74 countries around the world, including Thailand and now Cambodia, and the World Health Organisation (WHO)has now officially declared it a Global Health Emergency. The warning is the highest rating the WHO can assign, after nearly 17,000 people worldwide have been afflicted with the disease.

The chief of the WHO held a press conference where he said that, while a meeting on Thursday did not reach a consensus about the status of monkeypox, it was his responsibility to make the final judgement.

“I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern. [The] WHO’s assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region where we assess the risk as high.”

Data this month from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention put the number of people infected by monkeypox at 16,800. In the US, the senior director of the White House’s global health security and biodefense Division said that the WHO’s decision was essential to get a coordinated global response to fight the monkeypox outbreak and prevent it from spreading further.

Monkeypox has been endemic to Central and West African nations for years, but in May it began spreading around the world for the first time. The infections have been found primarily in gay or bisexual men with about 98% of cases, one-third of which had been to sex parties, saunas, or other similar venues within the previous month, as 95% of cases have been sexually transmitted according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

But much like the origins of the AIDS epidemic, officials worried that this could stigmatise those infected, making the spread harder to track and control. Still, the WHO advocated for education and assistance to communities where sex between men occurs.

Monkeypox is similar to smallpox that was eradicated in 1980, though deemed to be less contagious and less dangerous. A smallpox vaccine called Imvanex has been recommended by the European Union’s drug watchdog for use in treating monkeypox due to the two diseases’ similarities. The Danish drug could be used as a potential vaccine against monkeypox.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World