Monkeypox is declared a global health emergency

The World Health Organisation declared the spread of monkeypox a public health emergency on July 23rd. The committee advising Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the who is the director-general, did not reach a consensus on whether to elevate monkeypox to that level, with six of its members in favour of doing so. Nevertheless, Dr Tedros made a decision. He hopes that the global efforts to stop the spread of the disease will intensify. Who more power to co-ordinate action to stop transmission?

Monkeypox used to be a zoonotic disease only in parts of Africa, where it could be spread by people who hunted or ate monkeys. It was rare to have person-to- person transmission. In May, cases began popping up in European countries in people with no connection to Africa. Humans spread the outbreak. There were more than 16,000 reported cases by July 23.