The secretary general of the WHO insisted on Wednesday in his concern about the increase in cases of monkeypox and announced that he will convene the emergency committee to study the magnitude of the crisis.
The committee will meet the week of July 18. “Regarding monkeypox, I remain very concerned about the scale and spread of the virus,” of which more than 6,000 cases have already been reported in 58 countries, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva.
On June 25, he had considered that the increase in cases did not justify the activation of the organization’s highest alert level. “Diagnosis continues to be a challenge and it is very likely that there are a significant number of unrecorded cases”Tedros stressed.
According to the United Nations official, Europe is the epicenter of the epidemic, with more than 80% of the infections reported in the world. “In Africa, cases are appearing in previously unaffected countries and many records are being broken in places that have already dealt with monkeypox,” he added.
However, there are doubts about what its most common symptoms are. The most common are the presence of fevers, headaches, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue and chills.
Added to the above is the appearance of signs on the skin such as ulcers or rashes in some parts of the body, such as the face, and the possibility that these may spread to other regions of the body.
During its meeting on June 23, the committee judged that the increase in cases, although worrying, did not constitute a “public health emergency of international scope”, the highest level of alert of the organization.
Since May, there has been an unusual increase in infections of this disease outside the countries of Central and West Africa, where the virus is endemic.
Most of these new cases affect men who have had sex with men, although cases have also been reported in immunosuppressed people and in some children.
According to WHO estimates, currently About 60% of human infectious diseases are of zoonotic origin, highlighting that there are more than 200 types of these known and that they are transmitted by vertebrate animals to man.
What does it mean if the WHO declares it a global emergency?
Due to contingency, The international body plans to reassess whether the outbreak could be considered a global emergency.
Before the end of June, the WHO had taken into account the International Health Regulations and emergency committees with which the alert declaration had been ruled out, since the infection did not meet the parameters of public health of international importance.
In fact, for monkeypox, also known as monkeypox, to be declared a “public health emergency of international importance”the United Nations body considers that it should be “an extraordinary event that is determined to constitute a risk to the public health of other States through the international spread of disease and potentially requires a coordinated international response.”
In addition to this, if the disease turns out to be a global emergency, it is because three factors are being taken into account in the health situation:
- It is serious, sudden, unusual or unexpected.
- It has implications for public health beyond the national border of the affected State.
- May require immediate international action.
The director of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wants to resume the alert consideration because the evolution of the outbreak continues to be a constant news. Even on Wednesday, July 6, the international official said that he will convene the Emergency Committee during the third week of July or earlier, depending on the need.
“On monkeypox, I remain concerned about the scale and spread of the virus,” Tedros Adhanom said.