WHO to hold emergency meeting next week to decide the status of monkeypox outbreak

KOMPAS.com – World Health Organization (WHO) said it would hold an emergency meeting, on June 23, 2022.

This step is taken to determine whether the outbreak monkey pox or monkeypoxwill be categorized as a public health emergency of international concern, or not.

The state of emergency is the highest alert set by WHO. The WHO is currently still enforcing similar warnings for Covid-19 and polio.

“The global outbreak of monkeypox is clearly unusual and worrying,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, quoted from the UN’s official website, Tuesday (14/6/2022).

Read also: WHO plans to change the name of monkeypox, what is the reason?

Tedros also called for increased international response and coordination, related to monkeypox outbreaks that have been identified in various non-endemic countries.

It should be noted that monkeypox is an endemic disease in Central and West Africa. However, cases are starting to increase in many areas outside of Africa.

So far, there have been more than 1,600 confirmed cases and nearly 1,500 suspected cases of monkeypox have been reported to WHO. At least 39 countries have reported confirmed cases, including seven countries where smallpox has been detected previously.

Then, 72 deaths from monkeypox have been reported from these countries. The UN Health Agency also noted that there were no deaths in non-endemic countries for monkeypox.

The WHO is currently trying to verify news reports about reports of deaths related to monkeypox in Brazil.

WHO’s Deputy Director of Emergency Response, Ibrahima Socé Fall, explained that the risk of spreading the virus in Europe was assessed as ‘high’. Meanwhile, worldwide the risk is considered ‘moderate’.

He admitted, there is still a gap in information, especially about how the virus was transmitted until it spreads as it is now. Therefore, they continued to explore the characteristics of monkeypox virus.

“We (WHO) don’t want to wait until the situation gets out of control,” said Ibrahima.

Read also: What is the difference between smallpox and monkey pox?

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