THE rapidly spreading monkeypox outbreak represents a global health emergency, the World Health Organization’s highest level of alert, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday.
The WHO label – a “public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)” – is designed to trigger a coordinated international response and could unlock funding to collaborate on sharing vaccines and treatments.
Members of an expert committee that met on Thursday to discuss the potential recommendation were split on the decision, with nine members against and six in favor of the declaration, prompting Tedros himself to break the deadlock, he told reporters.
“Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern, for the moment this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners,” Tedros told a media briefing in Geneva.
“Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus,” he added.
He said the risk of monkeypox – which spreads via close contact and tends to cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions – was moderate globally, except in the Europe, where the WHO has deemed the risk as high.
The WHO and national governments have been facing intense pressure from scientists and public health experts to take more action on monkeypox.
Cases of the viral disease have ballooned since the committee first met at the end of June, when there were only about 3,000 cases. At the time, the expert group agreed to reconsider their position on the emergency declaration if the outbreak escalated.
One of the key issues driving a reassessment was whether cases would spread to other groups, particularly children or others who have been vulnerable to the virus in past outbreaks in endemic countries.
On Friday, the United States identified its first two monkeypox cases in children.
WHO officials said on Saturday they were exploring the possibility of the virus spreading via new modes of transmission.
Hours after the WHO declaration, the Department of Health yesterday said the Philippines remains free from the dreaded monkeypox.
In a statement, DOH officer-in-charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said there has been no case being suspected as a possible monkeypox case.
“Up to now, there has been no finding in the Philippines that fits the definition of a suspect monkeypox case,” she said.
Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the virus similar to that of smallpox, but milder and is rarely fatal.
The monkeypox virus can spread from person-to-person through direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids; respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing, cuddling, or sex; or touching items, such as clothing or linens, that previously touched the infectious rash or body fluids. — Reuters and Gerard Naval
