The World Health Organisation on Thursday declared that Monkeypox is no longer a global health emergency. The viral disease had led to confirmed cases in more than hundred countries.
"Yesterday, the emergency committee for mpox met and recommended to me that the multi-country outbreak of mpox no longer represents a public health emergency of international concern.
"I have accepted that advice, and am pleased to declare that mpox is no longer a global health emergency," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The WHO's statement comes almost a year after it had issued a public health emergency of international concern – “an extraordinary event” that constitutes a “public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease” and “to potentially require a coordinated international response.”
More than 87,000 mpox cases have been confirmed globally from the beginning of 2022 through May 8 this year, according to WHO's latest report.
Although WHO had earlier in the year noted a sustained decline in the number of reported cases, it had also expressed concerns about a possible resurgence in some regions and persisting transmission in some countries. (With agency inputs)
