Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

WHO Declares Monkeypox Global Health Emergency


Sat 23 Jul 2022 | 10:16 PM
Israa Farhan

On Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the highest level of alert in an attempt to contain an outbreak of monkeypox, which has so far infected about 17,000 people in 74 countries, according to its Director-General.

During a press conference, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he has decided to declare a health emergency with an international dimension against monkeypox, explaining that the risk in the world is relatively moderate, with the exception of Europe, where it is considered high.

The Director-General of WHO stressed that it is possible to control monkeypox and stop its spread using the means available to us at the present time, noting that the virus "is of international concern."

Ghebreyesus sounded the alarm, calling for a coordinated international response, including the release of funds and the exchange of vaccines to control the virus.

The declaration of a state of health emergency came after two well-informed sources announced that a state of pision prevailed among members of a team of experts of WHO regarding this.

The spread of monkeypox in early May outside the countries of Central and West Africa, where the virus is usually endemic, all over the world, and Europe was its epicenter.

Monkeypox, discovered in humans in the 1970s, is considered to be less dangerous and contagious than smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980.