WHO supports safer sex against monkeypox, according to AHF

THE ANGELS –

The World Health Organization (WHO) this week recommended the use of condoms as a means of protection against contracting monkeypox. It has previously been reported that viral DNA was found in semen. This recommendation comes several weeks after a statement from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which first highlighted the importance of barrier protection for high-risk groups to reduce the risk of monkeypox infection, as well as other comorbidities such as gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV.

“Although all evidence suggests that monkeypox is a sexually transmitted disease (STD), in addition to the potential for contagion through close, intimate skin contact, there is a noticeable reluctance to state it so unequivocally. We applaud the WHO’s decision to recommend condoms, which will undoubtedly protect people from suffering from serious symptoms such as pain and lesions,” said Michael Weinstein, President of the AHF. “Reluctance to define monkeypox as an STD harms the interests of patients and healthcare providers. STDs are nothing new and we have a robust range of treatment options for these conditions. The faster global health authorities recognize that monkeypox is an STD, the faster public health information and clinical processes can be deployed locally to respond to this epidemic with the urgency and resources needed.”

From a medical point of view, the answer to the question of whether monkeypox is an STD depends on whether the virus can be transmitted through blood, semen, vaginal fluid, or other bodily fluids during oral, anal, or genital sex with infected partners. Evidence is mounting that this may be the case with monkeypox. However, because scientific evidence takes time, as a practical matter, the use of condoms is recommended to reduce the potential risk of some modes of transmission of monkeypox and, in combination with proven public health interventions, to prevent other STDs.

Die AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a global non-profit organization serving and advocating for advanced medical services to more than 1.6 million people in 45 countries in the United States, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Asia Pacific and Europe uses. We are currently the largest not-for-profit provider of HIV/AIDS medical care in the world. To learn more about AHF, visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth, Twitter: @aidshealthcare, and Instagram: @aidshealthcare.

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Quelle: Business Wire

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