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26 July 2022: Good morning from the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean in Cairo and welcome to this briefing on COVID-19 and monkeypox.
First, let me introduce my friend and colleague, Dr. Maha El Rabbat, Professor of Public Health, Member of the African Union Commission for the Recovery of Africa and former Special Envoy of the Director General of WHO on COVID-19 for the Eastern Mediterranean region. It has been a great support to WHO and the Region throughout the pandemic. It will be our pleasure to provide you with the regional update on COVID-19 and monkeypox; Dr. Rabbat will provide the global perspective.
In the Eastern Mediterranean region, nearly 22.5 million confirmed cases and more than 344,000 deaths have been reported as of July 24, 2022. Twenty-one (21) of 22 countries reported detection of at least one variant of concern and detection of the Omicron variant of concern has been reported by 17 countries.
Over the past 5 weeks, the Eastern Mediterranean Region has continued to see an increase in cases and deaths from COVID-19 due to the circulation of variants and the relaxation or lifting of public health and social measures in the most countries We expect this increase to continue for several more weeks.
Vaccination efforts in the Region are ongoing, but vaccination coverage still lags behind the WHO global vaccination targets of 70% of all vaccinated populations and 100% coverage of priority groups such as workers health workers, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions.
As of July 18, 2022, only 45% of the Region’s population is fully vaccinated, 8% is partially vaccinated, and 47% have not yet received a single dose, putting them at greater risk and allowing the virus spreads and mutates even more.
Despite these challenges, we have made substantial progress in our collective regional response to COVID-19, strengthening regional and national leadership and coordination, laboratory diagnostics, surveillance systems, and building clinical management capacity.
Moving forward, we continue to prioritize supporting health workers in all ways to ensure health system resilience. We also continue to prioritize maintaining and strengthening disease surveillance, testing and genome sequencing capabilities, and accelerating vaccination efforts against COVID-19.
But these efforts alone will not stop the pandemic. If countries ease social and public health measures, they must ensure that these decisions are based on sound risk assessments. People need to understand that the virus is still circulating and continue to protect themselves with known preventive measures: masks, social distancing, good ventilation, good cough etiquette, etc.
And now to our regional monkeypox update.
As of 25 July 2022, there are 26 confirmed cases of monkeypox reported in 5 countries in the Region.
A few days ago, the Director-General of the WHO declared the multinational outbreak of monkeypox as a public health emergency of international concern. In our Region, this statement will help us raise awareness of the disease and obtain a more collective and timely response.
We take this PHEIC seriously, learning from the lessons of our response to COVID-19. Although few cases of monkeypox have been reported in our Region, we remain at risk and are working with countries and partners to increase preparedness levels while supporting the response in those countries with confirmed cases.
A few weeks ago, our Region delivered monkeypox diagnostic kits in a timely manner to 20 countries to improve preparedness and bridge gaps in existing surveillance and detection capacities.
Last week, the WHO Regional Office convened an emergency consultation with representatives of national and regional civil society groups working with high-risk groups to identify ways to ensure the delivery of safe health services , confidential and non-discriminatory, including prevention, detection prevention, contact tracing and confidential case management.
Viruses do not recognize borders, gender or nationality, and monkeypox can infect anyone, anywhere. As Dr. Tedros pointed out, and as we saw at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus.
We urge countries, firstly, to work with communities to ensure that those most at risk have the information and support they need to protect themselves and others; second, expand surveillance to stop transmission. And thirdly, report all cases to the WHO in accordance with the country’s obligations under the International Health Regulations.
The world we live in today is a world where the health of humans, animals and ecosystems are interconnected. As diseases spread between animals and humans, a “one health” approach is crucial to achieving optimal and sustainable health outcomes for people, animals and ecosystems.
This approach requires multiple sectors, disciplines and communities at all levels of society to work together to address existing and emerging threats to health and ecosystems, while addressing our collective need for food , water, energy and healthy air, taking action against climate change and promoting sustainable development.
It is essential that we all come together to control this outbreak. Let’s regain the spirit, determination and drive that brought us all together at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure that all people, everywhere, are protected under our vision regional of “Health for everyone, for everything.”