WHO declares mpox outbreak a global health emergency
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern. The virus, also known as monkeypox, is far less infectious than Covid-19, but a new variant is spreading increasingly around the world from Central Africa. Is the WHO's response too radical or too weak?
Take early warning signals seriously
Postimees recalls the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic:
“This is the most serious alert. ... We recall that the WHO issued a similar warning for the coronavirus in January 2020, and in March the virus had already spread to Estonia. This does not necessarily mean that monkeypox will turn up here by the end of the year, but in a globalised world, nothing can be ruled out. The disease is currently spreading mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also in a dozen other African countries, including Kenya, which is a favourite travel destination for Estonians. So the first thing is to avoid travelling to high-risk countries in Africa for the time being.”
No alarmism please
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung criticises the WHO's approach:
“Experience teaches us that declaring an international emergency is not a sustainably effective instrument. For example, the first international mpox emergency, declared in July 2022, failed to contain the virus in Congo-Kinshasa. ... Declaring an international emergency can raise awareness of the problem. It also enables better communication and the exchange of data. But does that mean we have to sound the alarm worldwide? The risk is too great that the world will get used to such declarations and then fail to respond adequately if a virus spreads rapidly across the globe.”
Nothing learned from Covid-19
The taz has a sense of déjà-vu:
“Development organisations are once again calling on industrial countries to supply vaccines immediately and give countries in the Global South access to diagnostics. Scientists are again pointing to their findings on zoonotic diseases, meaning illnesses that are transmitted from animals to humans and then spread among their new hosts. This should all sound familiar to us. The warm declarations of greater international solidarity after the coronavirus pandemic have dissipated. It's time for a new attempt at a joint agreement. Because the next alarm is sure to come.”