Saturday, August 24, 2024-The Director General of the World Health Organization has called for global concerted action to control a new mpox outbreak, announcing a response plan that will require at least $135 million over the next six months.
On Monday this week, the WHO declared that
the increase of mpox, formerly called monkeypox, in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo and a number of other African nations constituted a health emergency
of international concern.
On 14 August, the WHO stated that mpox has the 'potential to spread further
across countries in Africa and possibly outside the continent.'
Agencies of different countries including
Nigeria have announced infection cases of the virus, with state health agencies
put on standby.
On Friday, Tedros sounded a note of caution;
"Let me
be clear: this new mpox outbreak can be controlled and can be stopped,"
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a speech to WHO member
states on Friday, later posted on social media platform X.
"Responding
to this complex outbreak requires a comprehensive and coordinated international
response," he said.
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