The director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, highlighted on Thursday the “sustained” reduction in infections by the mpx virus worldwide.
“It is very gratifying to see how, thanks to the hard work of the affected countries, cases have decreased since I declared an international public health emergency last July,” he said, speaking at a meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee.
To date, more than 85,000 Mpox cases and 92 deaths have been reported to WHO, with 90% of cases detected since November 2022 in the Americas region.
However, the official indicated that in the last month cases were registered in more than 30 countries, warning of the difficulty of identifying them in Africa.
“The decrease in reported cases shows the effectiveness of response measures around the world,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, according to the private Spanish news agency Europa Press.
However, he considered that ending the outbreak still requires a “great effort”, and pointed out that, if the contagion is not stopped, he may have to face “a regrowth of cases.”
In this context, the director general of the WHO defended the maintenance of surveillance, prevention and care efforts, as well as the vaccination of high-risk populations.
Access to diagnosis, vaccinations and treatment for all must also be improved, the fight against stigma and discrimination continued, and respect for human rights, he added.
“In the long term, programs and services related to Mpox should be integrated into surveillance and control programs for HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and other sexually transmitted infections,” he added.
Source: TSF
