With more than 16 thousand cases reported in 75 countries around the world since the beginning of May 2022, the director general of the World Health Organization ‒WHO‒, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared this Saturday that the monkeypox outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern.
“WHO’s assessment is that the risk from monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions except the European region, where we assess the risk as high,” said Dr Tedros, adding that “there is also a clear risk of further international spread, although the risk of interference with international traffic remains low at this time.”
The announcement was made during a virtual press conference on the report of the second meeting of the International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee on the outbreak of monkeypox in several countries.
On July 20, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that a month earlier he had convened IHRs to assess whether the outbreak of monkeypox in several countries represented a public health emergency of international concern.
At that meeting, he said, although different points of view were expressed, the committee resolved by consensus that the outbreak did not represent a public health emergency of international concern, since up to that point 3,040 cases of monkeypox had been reported to WHO in 47 countries.
Since then, he said, the outbreak has continued to grow and there are now more than 16,000 reported cases from 75 countries and territories, and five deaths.
In light of the evolution of the outbreak, he said he met the committee again on Thursday of this week to review the latest data and advise accordingly.
On this occasion, he said that the committee could not reach a consensus on whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern, a situation that changed on Saturday.
According to the International Health Regulations, five elements must be taken into account when deciding whether an outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.
First, the information provided by countries, which in this case shows that this virus has spread rapidly to many countries that have not seen it before; second, the three criteria for declaring a public health emergency of international concern, which have been met; third, that the advice of the Emergency Committee reaches a consensus; fourth, the scientific principles, evidence and other relevant information, which are currently sufficient.
And as a fifth point, the risk to human health, international spread and the potential for interference with international traffic.
"While I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern, at this time this is an outbreak concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners," the WHO director general said.
That means this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups, he stressed.
In this regard, she stressed that it is essential for all countries to work closely with communities of men who have sex with men, to design and provide effective information and services, and to adopt measures that protect the health, human rights and dignity of the affected communities.
"Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus," she concluded.
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