As more than 3,200 monkeypox cases were confirmed and one death reported globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened its emergency committee to consider whether the spiraling outbreak of monkeypox warrants a declaration of a global emergency. Used to be.
The WHO said it did not expect to announce any decisions made by its emergency committee before Friday.
Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the monkeypox epidemic recently identified in more than 40 countries, mostly in Europe, as “unusual and concerning”.
Announcement monkeypox Being a global emergency would mean that the UN health agency considers the outbreak an “extraordinary event” and that the disease threatens to spread across even greater borders, potentially requiring a global response.
Some experts have said the WHO’s decision to act only after the disease spreads to the West could address the glaring disparities between rich and poor countries. coronavirus pandemic,
“If the WHO was really concerned about the monkeypox outbreak, they could have called their emergency committee years ago when it started again in Nigeria in 2017 and nobody knew why we suddenly had hundreds of cases,” he said. Said Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian virologist who sits on many. WHO Advisory Group.
“It’s a little curious that the WHO only called its experts when the disease appeared in white countries,” he said.
David Fiedler, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the WHO’s new focus on monkeypox amid the outbreak outside Africa may inadvertently worsen the divide between rich and poor countries seen during COVID-19.
“There may be valid reasons why the WHO only sounded the alarm when monkeypox spread to rich countries, but in poorer countries, it looks like a double standard,” Fiedler said.
So far, Europe has recorded more than 80% of cases, while Africa has already seen more than 1,400 cases this year, including 62 deaths.
The majority of cases in Europe have occurred in men who are gay or bisexual, or other men who have sex with men, but scientists warn that anyone in close contact with an infected person or their clothing or bedsheets can contract the infection. There is danger, regardless of their sexual orientation.
People with monkeypox often experience symptoms such as fever, body aches, and rash; Most recover within weeks without medical care.
Even though the WHO has declared monkeypox a global emergency, it is not clear what the impact might be.
Salim Abdul Karim, an epidemiologist and vice chancellor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, said the WHO and others should do more to prevent monkeypox in Africa and elsewhere, but was not convinced that a global emergency declaration would help. Will get
“It’s a wrong idea that Africa is this poor, helpless continent, when in reality we know how to deal with the pandemic,” Abdul Karim said.
He said stopping the outbreak ultimately depends on things like surveillance, isolating patients and public education.