(MENAFN- AzerNews)
The World health Organization secretary general has said that
the new mpox virus can be halted and brought under control,
Azernews reports citing to Anadolu Agency .
“This new mpox outbreak can be controlled and stopped,” Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing of members of the WHO, a UN
agency.
“Doing so requires concerted action between international
agencies and national and local partners, civil society,
researchers and manufacturers, and you, our member states,” he
added.
Stating more than 100,000 confirmed mpox cases have been
reported to the WHO since the global outbreak began in 2022, he
also reported an unprecedented increase in cases in Africa.
“Transmission is now centered in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, with 90% of the reported cases in 2024. There have been more
than 16,000 suspected cases – including 575 deaths – this year
alone,” he said
Telling how the virus was declared a public health emergency of
international concern, Tedros said that last month, cases of the
Clade 1b strain of the virus were reported not only from Burundi,
Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, which neighbor Congo, but also from
Thailand and Sweden, where cases had not been previously
reported.
Noting that the WHO and its partners have developed a Global
mpox Virus Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to stop the
outbreak through coordinated global, regional, and national
efforts, he said:“The plan focuses on implementing comprehensive
surveillance and response strategies; advancing research and
equitable access to medical countermeasures; minimizing zoonotic
transmission; and empowering communities to actively participate in
outbreak prevention and control.”
Saying that the WHO has been working with a wide range of
international, regional, national, and local partners to improve
preparedness against the virus and enhance coordination in key
areas of responses, he also noted that the WHO Regional Office for
Africa will jointly lead the coordination of mpox response efforts
in the African region, in collaboration with the Ethiopian-based
Africa CDC, where the need is greatest.
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