W.H.O. Declares Monkeypox a “Global Health Emergency”
metroweekly.comThe New York Times. The declaration signals a public health risk requiring a coordinated international response. The designation could lead W.H.O.
member countries to invest resources into controlling an outbreak, increasing funding for various interventions or initiatives to respond to the monkeypox virus, and share vaccines and treatments in an attempt to lessen the spread of the disease.The advisory panel previously decided against declaring monkeypox a global health emergency in June, on the grounds that, although the disease was a growing threat, the number of confirmed cases of monkeypox infection had not risen to a level justifying the change in designation.
At the time, the disease had also not moved beyond the primary risk group of men who have sex with men.Currently, there are 16,836 confirmed cases of monkeypox infection globally, in 74 countries, and 2,891 confirmed cases in the United States.
The overwhelming majority of the infections outside Africa — the region to which the virus is endemic — have occurred among men who have sex with men.
Read more on metroweekly.com