WHO declares monkeypox a global health emergency amid rising cases

World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared monkeypox a global health emergency amid rising cases. So far this year, there have been more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox in more than 60 countries and five deaths in Africa.

A “public health emergency of international concern” is designed to sound an alarm that a coordinated international response is needed and could unlock funding and global efforts to collaborate on sharing vaccines and treatments.

The global health body’s highest level of alert was announced by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday during a virtual briefing.

The WHO chief made the decision to issue the declaration despite a lack of consensus among members of WHO’s emergency committee. It was the first time the chief of the U.N. Health agency has taken such an action.

According to the global health body, monkeypox is a viral zoonotic infection caused by the monkeypox virus. It spreads mostly from human contact.

WHO previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.

The emergency declaration mostly serves as a plea to draw more global resources and attention to an outbreak. Past announcements had mixed impact, given that the U.N. Health agency is largely powerless in getting countries to act.

Last month, WHO’s expert committee said the worldwide monkeypox outbreak did not yet amount to an international emergency, but the panel convened this week to reevaluate the situation.