Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, yesterday met with departmental heads from the Ministry and representatives from the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (WHO), the Civil Defence Commission and other relevant stakeholders to discuss the country’s readiness plans for mpox.
The meeting comes a day after the WHO declared mpox, a global public health emergency.
According to Reuters, WHO on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak of the viral infection in Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighbouring countries.
An emergency committee met earlier on Wednesday to advise WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on whether the disease outbreak constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern,” or PHEIC.
PHEIC status is WHO’s highest level of alert and aims to accelerate research, funding and international public health measures and cooperation to contain a disease.
“It’s clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives,” said Tedros.
Mpox can spread through close contact. Usually mild, it is fatal in rare cases. It causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body.
The outbreak in Congo began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I. But a new variant, clade Ib, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact.
It has spread from Congo to neighbouring countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, triggering the action from the WHO.
