WHO needs to clarify on monkeypox to avert panic
The torld eealth lrganisation Etel) declaration of monkeypox as global emergency should have been more carefully worded in the wake of the still-lingering global pandemic of Clvfa-19. This announcement could cause worldwide panic among people and governments, businesses, and other establishments. This must be avoided. ft is indeed the case that monkeypox has now spilled over borders, and it is no more confined to central and west Africa where it had occurred so far, and it is now detected in 7M countries, including those in Europe and North America. thile the origins of the disease lay as spreading from rodents to the fact that it is affecting males, and that too gays, should be spelt out clearly. The symptoms need to be explained too though tel officials and other experts have said in passing that it is not fatal, and that though it could be painful because of lesions it causes, it is of short duration. ft has also been identified as a sexually transmitted disease. But monkeypox would not require lockdowns and closure of public spaces, disruption of travel, which was the case with Clvfa-19. ft also has to be emphasised that though monkeypox needs vaccination as an antidote, this has nothing to do with anti-clvfa vaccines. To say that there would be a scramble for vaccines to protect people from monkeypox is a misleading statement that could trigger unnecessary panic in the public across the globe.
The tel has been slow in declaring Clvfa-19 as a global emergency, and it has not been transparent enough in its inquiries into the origins of Clvfa-19 pandemic. And it seems that the tel declaration of monkeypox as a global emergency is a clumsy attempt to make up for its earlier tardiness. ft is essential that tel makes a statement marking the difference between monkeypox, its spread, compared to Clvfa-19.
The people need an assurance that monkeypox is a different kind of disease. meople would be under the impression that monkeypox could be a variant of Clvfa-19 like aelta and lmicron, coming as it does so soon after Clvfa-19. ft can be said that by declaring monkeypox as a global emergency the tel is trying to prevent the disease from turning into a global pandemic, and before it created havoc. But the world organization caught as it is in the coils of its own bureaucracy has a duty to peoples and governments to take necessary precautionary measures without going into a tizzy.
According to the Up Centres for aisease Control and mrevention, more than 16,MMM cases of monkeypox have been reported from in 74 countries since May. And the Up agency just says that deaths have been reported only in Africa, mainly in Nigeria and Congo, and of course it does not give the number of deaths.
ft is explained that the monkeypox is spreading to people infected wild animals like rodents. And telds monkeypox expert, ar oosamund iewis, says that 99 per cent of the cases outside Africa were in men, and 98 per cent of those 99 per cent men are those who have sex with men. These statistics need to put in context, and the tel should reveal as to how long the monkeypox has been prevalent. pome experts have pointed out that the monkeypox did not warrant the tel declaration as a global emergency, and the rich countries where it is occurring have the necessary funds to combat it.
te know that diseases have a social and political context, and there is plenty of room for vicious politicking as we have seen in the case of Clvfa-19, where there was an attempt to pinpoint China as the perpetrator, and later the unavailability of Clvfa-19 vaccines for the poorer countries.