The epidemic of monkeypox has been designated a serious health emergency of worldwide concern by the World Health Organization. WHO’s 2nd emergency committee met on Thursday, and their conclusion was revealed the following morning, early Saturday.
Although the committee was unlikely to make a judgment, the WHO Director-General stated he had made up his mind after weighing the five factors necessary to determine whether or not an epidemic represents a health emergency of worldwide significance.
According to the World Health Organization, a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) is “an unusual incident that poses a public health danger to other States via the international transmission of illness and may call for a synchronized global reaction.
At its initial meeting in late June, the organization’s crisis committee on monkeypox voiced severe worries about the extent and pace of the viral epidemic without classifying it as a PHEIC. The 2005 International Health Regulations established the PHEIC classification as a global commitment to assist avoid and react to public health concerns that might spread throughout the world.
According to the US (CDC), the standards are a legally binding contract of 196 nations to enhance the capacity to recognize and report possible public health crises globally. The International Health Regulations stipulate that all nations must be able to identify, evaluate, report, and react to public health incidents.
The polio outbreak of 2014 and the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 are both continuing public health crises. The smallpox pathogen, which has since been eliminated, has a much milder relative called monkeypox. It is transmitted by rodents or other small mammals and is endemic to several areas of West & Central Africa.
Monkeypox may be transmitted by direct interaction with infected fluids, wounds, or contaminated objects, including clothes and bedding. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that it may also transmit from individual to individual by respiratory droplets, especially in close quarters.
