BADAN World Health (WHO) reportedly will soon convene an emergency committee meeting to discuss the monkeypox outbreak.
Collect Reuters, Wednesday (15/6/2022) the emergency committee meeting will be held on Thursday next week to determine the status of whether the monkeypox outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern.
This measure is the highest level of warning issued by the WHO, which currently only applies to the Covid-19 and polio pandemics.
From the WHO’s own records, there are currently 1600 confirmed cases of monkey deformities, 1500 suspected cases with a death toll of 72 cases in 39 countries, including in countries where this virus usually spreads. This year, the majority of deaths occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
While no deaths have been reported in the outbreak outside of Africa, as WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, now is the time to consider stepping up the response as the monkeypox virus is behaving in an unusual manner, more countries are being affected, and there is a need to international coordination.
“We don’t want to wait until the situation gets out of control,” said the WHO’s emergency director for Africa, Ibrahima Socé Fall.
Next week’s committee meeting itself, will involve global experts. Later, it is the Director General of WHO who makes the final decision on whether the outbreak deserves to be labeled, known as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) or in other words an official declaration from WHO.
With the determination of the status of the WHO that a disease outbreak is a global health emergency, it can actually help accelerate research and funding to overcome a disease.
Tedros also said that WHO is currently working with partners to change the names of monkeypox and its variants, as well as mechanisms to help share available vaccines more equitably.
It is known that several countries have started a monkeypox vaccination program, by vaccinating health workers and close contacts of monkeypox patients using the smallpox vaccine.
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