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LONDON – Members of a World Health Organization (WHO) expert panel are divided on whether the monkeypox outbreak represents a global health emergency, but the agency’s director-general can still issue the ‘high alert on Saturday, two sources close to the decision told Reuters.
The committee, which met on Thursday, provides advice to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is responsible for making the final decision on whether to declare a global health emergency.
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In the past, Tedros has always gone with the committee’s recommendation, but the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was seriously considering declaring the agency’s highest alert level despite the lack of majority opinion because of its concern for urgency. of the situation.
The WHO is due to hold a press conference at 1300 GMT on Saturday to announce its final decision.
The label, a “public health emergency of international concern,” currently applies only to the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing efforts to eradicate polio.
In recent weeks, pressure from scientists and public health experts has increased for the WHO and national governments to take more action against monkeypox. More than 14,000 cases and five deaths have now been reported from 71 WHO member states.
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When the committee first met in late June, there were only about 3,000 cases.
The WHO alert serves to sound the alarm and can also unlock funding and global efforts to collaborate to share vaccines and treatments.
There are already effective treatments and vaccines for monkeypox, but they are few and far between. The WHO has also been providing advice and updates since the outbreak began in early May.
At the first meeting of the expert committee, the group said it would reconsider its position on the emergency declaration if the outbreak escalated.
In Europe and the United States, cases among men who have sex with men have mostly been reported, and the committee also said it would reconsider if other groups began reporting cases, particularly children or others who have been more vulnerable to the virus in outbreaks past in endemic countries.
On Friday, the United States identified its first two cases of smallpox in children.
Any changes in the virus itself, which spreads through close contact and causes flu-like lesions and symptoms, could also prompt a rethink, the committee said.
The group is now divided between those who believe an emergency declaration would speed up efforts to contain the disease and those who do not believe it meets the criteria because it has not yet spread to new groups of people or has had a high rate of mortality, according to sources. said (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby Editing by Helen Popper)