The World Health Organization (WHO) decided during its second meeting on Monkeypox, on Thursday, to not announce the virus as a public health emergency regardless of the latest rise in infections.
WHO Director Tedros Ghebreyesus said that the decision involved “the consideration of many factors, with the ultimate goal of protecting public health”.
He revealed in his opening remarks that the committee participated in “[delineating] the dynamics of this outbreak."
“As the outbreak develops, it’s important to assess the effectiveness of public health interventions in different settings, to better understand what works, and what doesn’t”.
More than 14,000 cases were detected in 71 this year, according to the WHO, in addition, Tedros announced that six countries reported their first cases last week.
“This transmission pattern represents both an opportunity to implement targeted public health interventions, and a challenge because in some countries, the communities affected face life-threatening discrimination."
The meeting was the second for the emergency committee.
Dr Sophia Makki, incident director at The UK Health Security Agency, said last week: “The monkeypox outbreak in the UK continues to grow, with over a thousand cases now confirmed nationwide. “
She explained: “We expect cases to continue to rise further in the coming days and weeks. If you are attending large events over the summer or having sex with new partners, be alert to any monkeypox symptoms so you can get tested rapidly and help avoid passing the infection on.”
“Currently, the majority of cases have been in men who are gay, bisexual or have sex with men. However, anyone who has had close contact with an inpidual with symptoms is also at increased risk.”
Follow the latest news on Google News
