The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Saturday declared the alarming rise of monkeypox cases in more than 70 countries around the world an “extraordinary” situation and declared it as a global emergency,
The rare designation means the WHO considers the scale of the current outbreak as an ominous enough threat to global health and one that warrants a coordinated international response to prevent the virus from spreading further and potentially precipitating into a pandemic.
Although the declaration does not impose mandates on national governments, it serves as an urgent call for action to the member states toward an outbreak that is on its march to becoming a pandemic. Moreover, WHO cannot impose mandates on member states and are required to report events that pose a threat to global health.
While monkeypox has been prevalent in several parts of Africa for decades, it has, so far, not been known to spur infections beyond the continent until May, when health authorities detected dozens of cases across Europe, North America and other places.
However, the declaration of a “global emergency” means the outbreak of monkeypox is an “extraordinary event” that could or has spilled over into more countries and requires an all-encompassing response to stem its spread.
Even so, the emergency declaration only serves as a plea to the countries around the world to mobilise their efforts toward fighting a disease outbreak that could potentially yield catastrophic results. But past announcements have elicited mixed reactions as UN health agency has largely been ineffective in getting countries to act.
Nevertheless, the announcement was made after WHO’s expert committee met this week to assess the threat monkeypox posed for the world. Last month, too, the committee had met to discuss the matter. However, they had then said that the worldwide monkeypox outbreak did not yet amount to an international emergency.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the W.H.O.’s director general, however, on Saturday countermanded a panel of advisers, who could not reach a consensus, and proclaimed monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern.”
“We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little, and which meets the criteria for a public health emergency,” Dr. Tedros told reporters.
As per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, upwards of 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been logged in 74 countries since about May. To date, deaths due to monkeypox have only been reported in Africa, where a more dangerous version of the virus is in circulation, chiefly in Nigeria and Congo.
However, in the last few months, monkeypox cases have been reported in several countries, including in Europe and North America, triggering concerns among WHO authorities about the outbreak turning into a global pandemic.
