Monkeypox Photo: VCG
Governments, health partners and civil society must act urgently to keep monkeypox at a distance in the European region, said Hans Kluge, regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Europe on Wednesday.
“Europe remains the epicenter of this escalating outbreak, with 25 countries reporting more than 1,500 cases, or 85 per cent of the total,” he said, stressing that the scale of the outbreak posed a real risk.
“The longer the virus circulates, the more it spreads and the stronger the point of the disease in non-endemic countries.
According to Kluge, monkeypox has been endemic to parts of West and Central Africa for decades and has been neglected by the rest of the world.
“We have seen again how a challenge in one part of the world can so easily and quickly become a challenge for all of us, and how we must all work together to ensure a coordinated response that is fair to all.”
Kluge also stressed the importance of identifying and supporting close contacts of cases, as well as self-monitoring for 21 days for any early signs of monkeypox, such as fever.
“Once identified, patients with suspected or confirmed monkeypox should be isolated until their symptoms are fully resolved, with the necessary infection control measures and the support they need to lead them to recovery.”
Despite the fact that the majority of reported patients in Europe are men who have sex with men, Kluge stressed that the monkeypox virus is not associated with any specific group.
“The stigmatization of certain sections of the population undermines the public health response, as we have seen over and over again in such diverse contexts as HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis and COVID-19.
Kluge also denied any future moves by Western countries to accumulate limited supplies of monkeypox vaccines, calling it a “first-come, first-served approach for me” that could only have negative global repercussions, and asked if the world was ” really learned lessons ”from COVID -19.
Cooperation, the ability to generate and share critical knowledge across borders, communities and populations remain “our best tool” to fight the monkeypox virus, he said, calling for “true and selfless” regional cooperation.
The WHO said on Tuesday that it would convene its emergency committee next week to advise on whether the current spread of monkeypox in non-endemic countries is an international public health emergency.
Xinhua
Add Comment