WHO declares mpox outbreak public health emergency
The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has declared the outbreak of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of African countries a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). A statement from WHO Wednesday said Dr Tedros’s declaration came on the […]
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has declared the outbreak of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of African countries a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
A statement from WHO Wednesday said Dr Tedros’s declaration came on the advice of an IHR Emergency Committee of independent experts who reviewed data presented by experts from WHO and affected countries.
The committee informed the Director-General that it considered the upsurge of mpox to be a PHEIC, with the potential to spread further across countries in Africa and possibly outside the continent.
Dr Tedros said, “The emergence of a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are very worrying. On top of outbreaks of other mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”
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WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said, “Significant efforts are already underway in collaboration with communities and governments to curb mpox. With the growing spread of the virus, we are scaling up further through coordinated international action to support countries bring the outbreaks to an end.”
Mpox has been reported in the DRC for more than a decade. The number of cases reported so far this year has exceeded last year’s total, with more than 15,600 cases and 537 deaths.