Experts call for more action from WHO, authorities amid monkeypox spike

Several prominent infectious disease experts are calling for more action from the World Health Organization as well as governments for quick intervention to prevent monkeypox from spreading more.

The group is requesting worldwide authorities not to replicate similar mistakes like the COVID-19 outbreak. These experts have also issued guidelines to curb the monkeypox spread through self-isolation and reinforcing testing and contract tracing practices across the globe.

If this becomes endemic, the globe will face yet another terrible disease outbreak, according to Dr. Isabelle Eckerle, a Professor at the Geneva Centre for Emerging Viral Disease in Switzerland. Meanwhile, a spokesperson from WHO has claimed that the outbreak is being evaluated as a promising public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).

A WHO declaration that an outbreak is a global health emergency, as it was in the case of Ebola or Coronavirus, would assist speed up research and financing for disease containment. At WHO's annual meeting in Geneva, the Director of Health Crises Program, Mike Ryan, mentioned that monkeypox is under consideration, but no special committee has been announced yet.

Experts say the WHO is unlikely to reach such a judgment anytime soon as monkeypox is indeed a viable threat even if the world has adequate resources to combat it. WHO officials indicated that debates are on whether to form an emergency committee or not and which particular group that advises declaring a PHEIC, is part of the agency's usual routine.

Eckerle has urged the WHO to advise countries to deploy more coordinated and rigorous isolation measures even if there is no emergency declaration. The infectious disease expert is concerned that assertions that the virus is mild, and that the provision of vaccines and remedies in some countries could result in a lackadaisical approach among public health authorities.

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