Copenhagen (ANTARA) – Governments, health partners and the general public need to urgently act together to prevent monkeypox in Europe, said the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge on Wednesday (15/6).
“Europe is still the epicenter of this escalating outbreak, with 25 countries reporting more than 1,500 cases, or 85 percent of the total global number of cases,” he said, stressing that the sheer scale of the outbreak poses a real risk.
“The longer the virus circulates, the further it will spread and the stronger the foothold of the disease will be in non-endemic countries.”
According to Kluge, monkeypox has been endemic in parts of west and central Africa for decades and is being ignored by the rest of the world.
“We have again seen how challenges in one part of the world can easily and quickly become challenges for all of us and how we must all work together to ensure a coordinated response that is equitable for all.”
Furthermore, Kluge denounced any future move by Western countries to stockpile the currently limited supply of the monkeypox vaccine, calling it a “selfish approach” that would only lead to negative global consequences and asking whether the world had “really learned the lesson.” ” from COVID-19.
Kluge also stressed the importance of identifying and supporting close contacts in these cases, as well as self-monitoring for 21 days for early signs of monkeypox, such as fever.
“Once identified, patients with suspected or confirmed monkeypox should be isolated until their symptoms have completely resolved, implementing the necessary infection control measures and providing them with the support they need until they recover,” he said.
Despite the fact that the majority of patients reported in Europe are men who have sex with the same sex, Kluge stressed that the monkeypox virus is not linked to any particular group.
“Stigmatization of certain populations will undermine public health responses as we have seen time and again in contexts as diverse as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and COVID-19.”
Cooperation, the ability to generate and share crucial knowledge across borders, communities and population groups remain “our best means” to combat the monkeypox virus, he said, calling for “sincere and unselfish” regional collaboration.
The WHO on Tuesday (14/6) said that next week the organization would convene an Emergency Committee meeting to provide recommendations on whether the current spread of monkeypox in non-endemic countries constitutes an international public health emergency.
Reporter: Xinhua
Editor: And Salim
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