WHO: Monkeypox No Longer Global Health Emergency

On Thursday, the World Health Organization announced that Monkeypox (Mpox) is no longer a global health emergency.

In July 2022, WHO declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern, describing it as: “an extraordinary event” that constitutes a “public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease” and “to potentially require a coordinated international response.”

A PHEIC formed an agreement between countries to discuss WHO’s recommendations for managing the emergency. 

Each country had the right to declare its own public health emergency.

The international health organization had a heated meeting this week where the emergency committee recommended to end to the emergency.

The recommendations were approved by the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Adhanom said: “Yesterday, the emergency committee for mpox met and recommended to me that the multi-country outbreak of mpox no longer represents a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice and I’m pleased to declare that the mpox is no longer a global health emergency."

“However, as with Covid-19, that does not mean that the work is over. Mpox continues to pose significant public health challenges that need a robust, proactive and sustainable response,” he continued.

The director-general concluded his statement by urging the countries to maintain their testing capacity and ability to respond to future outbreaks.