The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency, the highest alert that the WHO can issue.
This follows a worldwide upsurge in cases.
Speaking at the conclusion of a meeting of an emergency committee dealing with the monkeypox outbreak, WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says more than 16 000 cases have now been reported from 75 countries. There have been five deaths .
According to the BBC, there are only two other such health emergencies at present – the coronavirus pandemic and the continuing effort to eradicate polio.
Tedros said the emergency committee had been unable to reach a consensus on whether the monkeypox outbreak should be classified as a global health emergency. He had thus decided that it was of international concern.
He noted that too little was understood about the new modes of transmission which had allowed the virus to spread.
‘The WHO’s assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region, where we assess the risk as high.’
Tedros said the declaration would help speed up the development of vaccines and the implementation of measures to limit the spread of the virus.
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