The World Health Organization may declare the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency following it asked experts to meet once more as cases continued to rise.
And the newspaper said, figures from the Health Security Agency in the United Kingdom may show that there are 1,735 cases of monkeypox in Britain.
What you don’t know regarding monkeypox
The World Health Organization added that the meeting will decide whether monkeypox is an “international concern”. This will be the emergency committee’s second meeting since the outbreak in May 2022, explaining that they will reconvene their monkeypox committee to decide whether it should be considered a “global health emergency.”“.
The newspaper said, “The United Nations health agency has now learned of 9,200 cases in 63 countries in the latest update released on Tuesday, with the UK recording 1,735 cases between May 6 and July 11 this year, as UK Health Security Agency figures show. The majority were Londoners, with 1,229 reported in the capital..
This WHO meeting will be the second emergency committee meeting, where experts are expected to decide whether monkeypox cases constitute a public health emergency which should be “a source of international concern.”“
The United Nations health agency said in a statement: The Emergency Committee will present its views to the Director-General of the World Health Organization on whether the event constitutes a health emergency, explaining that, if so, it will propose interim recommendations on how to better prevent and limit the spread of the disease. and managing the global public health response.
And the newspaper said, that late last month, Dr. Sophia Makki, Incident Manager at the Health Security Agency in the United Kingdom, said: UKHSA The outbreak continues monkeypox In the UK it is on the rise, with more than a thousand cases now confirmed nationwide.
“We expect cases to continue to rise in the coming days and weeks, if you attend large events during the summer, watch out for any symptoms of monkeypox so you can get tested quickly and help avoid transmission,” she added..
Currently, the majority of cases have been in gay, bisexual, or heterosexual men, however, anyone who has been in close contact with someone with symptoms is also at increased risk.
The newspaper added, “A public health emergency of international concern” is the highest official alarm that the World Health Organization can raise regarding the spread of a disease such as monkeypox, and the committee’s recent meeting found that the situation has not yet reached a minimum – but with the number of cases rising, The health agency warns of their concerns.
If you are concerned that you may have monkeypox, do not go to events or meet friends, stay at home and contact your local sexual health service for advice, the newspaper said..
Dozens of countries have recorded cases of monkeypox, which is usually only monitored in Africa, and has disappeared so far following a few cases in other parts of the world, almost all infections have been detected so far in men who have sex with men. .
The WHO panel will focus on trends, effectiveness of countermeasures, and advice for countries and communities facing outbreaks.
“The WHO continues to work with countries and vaccine manufacturers to coordinate the sharing of vaccines, which is currently rare,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization. isolation.