The World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced plans to reconvene the Emergency Committee on monkeypox by the week of July 18 as infections continue to rise globally. In June, the WHO’s Emergency Committee resolved that the outbreak did not constitute a global public health emergency.
However, addressing the media on Wednesday (July 6), WHO DG, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he remained “concerned by the scale and spread of the virus”.
According to Our World in Data, by July 8 there were more than 9 000 cases of monkeypox in nearly 60 countries around the world. This was after an increase of 1 000 cases in 24 hours. The first case of the virus was recorded on May 6.
"Europe is the current epicentre of the outbreak, recording more than 80% of monkeypox cases globally," said Dr Ghebreyesus.
Meanwhile, he told the media that the agency was working with countries and vaccine manufacturers to co-ordinate sharing of vaccines, which are currently scarce.
"WHO is also working closely with civil society and the LGBTQI+ community especially to break the stigma around the virus and spread information so people can protect themselves,” he added.
