WHO believes Monkeypox outbreak can be stopped

A senior WHO official on Tuesday stated that the outbreak of monkeypox, which is expanding quickly, may be stopped with the appropriate measures.

Dr. Rosamund Lewis, WHO Technical Lead on Monkeypox, stated during a press event in Geneva that “We do at this point still feel that this epidemic of Monkeypox can be controlled with the proper policies in the right populations.”

She did, however, emphasize that time was running out and that everyone needed to band together to fight the disease.

Spread of the virus was deemed a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), the highest degree of notice, by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday.

Through this, we seek to improve coordination, international collaboration between nations and all stakeholders, and solidarity on a worldwide scale, Lewis said.

WHO rated the danger that monkeypox poses to public health as high in the European region but only moderate globally.

More than 75 nations have reported more than 16,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox this year. Lewis asserted that the actual figure was probably higher.

She mentioned that although there weren’t many testing facilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there were likely thousands of instances there. Suspected incidents were not included on the worldwide dashboard, she claimed.

According to UN News, the monkeypox virus has just recently begun to move outside of Africa, where it is prevalent. But early May news of a few cases in Britain indicated that the outbreak had spread to Europe.

Lewis also emphasized the need to eliminate prejudice and stigma since they would undermine efforts to combat the disease.