On Saturday, the World Health Organization launched the highest level of alert in an attempt to contain an outbreak of monkeypox, which has so far infected about 17,000 people in 74 countries, according to its Director-General.
“I have decided to declare a global health emergency” against monkeypox, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference, explaining that the risk in the world is relatively moderate, with the exception of Europe, where it is considered high.
The organization indicated that it currently has “all the necessary capabilities to control the spread of the epidemic.”
And on Thursday, during a long meeting of the expert committee that should guide him in his decision and recommendations, Ghebreyesus explained that he is “still concerned” about the spread of the disease, even if the rate of spread has decreased in some places.
It is up to the Director-General of the World Health Organization to declare an “international public health emergency”, which is the highest level of alert at the World Health Organization, and this is done based on the recommendations of the Emergency Committee.
In the first meeting on June 23, the majority of experts recommended that the WHO not declare a public health emergency of international concern.
“Monkeypox is out of control and there is no legal, scientific or health reason not to declare an international public health emergency,” Lawrence Gustin, professor of American health law and director of the World Health Organization’s Center for Health Law, wrote on Twitter Friday evening.
The unusual increase in cases of monkeypox was discovered in early May outside the countries of Central and West Africa, where the virus is usually endemic, and since then it has spread throughout the world and has been the epicenter of Europe.
Monkeypox, discovered in humans in 1970, is considered to be less dangerous and contagious than smallpox that was eradicated in 1980.
And a study published Thursday in the “New England Journal of Medicine”, which is the largest on this subject and is based on data from 16 different countries, confirmed that the vast majority (95%) of recent cases were transmitted during sexual contact and that 98% of cases were recorded in men Gay and bisexual.
“This mode of transmission is at the same time an opportunity to implement targeted public health interventions, as well as a challenge, because in some countries, communities affected (from monkeypox) face life-threatening discrimination,” Ghebreyesus said.
On Twitter, Gustin considered that if the reason for not declaring an international public health emergency was “because it is limited to the community of men who have sexual relations with men, this is wrong and scandalous.”
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said Friday that it had approved the use of a human smallpox vaccine, and the expansion of its use against the spread of monkeypox. This vaccine is already used for this purpose in many countries, including France.
The Imvanex vaccine, produced by the Danish company Bavarin Nordic, was approved by the European Union in 2013 for use in smallpox control.
The World Health Organization recommends vaccinating those most at risk and health care personnel who have been in contact with the disease.
In New York, thousands of people have already received the Genius vaccine.
This vaccine is marketed under the name “Genius” in the United States, while in Europe it is called “Imphanix”.