Leading African experts who claim that monkeypox has been a disaster in their region for years have criticised the World Health Organization's decision to determine whether to designate it a global health emergency on Thursday.
Concerns about how the UN organisation and countries globally handled COVID-19 in early 2020 prompted to discussions and examination of the WHO's reaction to the epidemic.
The highest degree of warning according to WHO is a "public health emergency of worldwide significance." Although the organisation doesn't proclaim pandemics, it did start referring to COVID-19 as one in March 2020.
That was the time when many countries started to take serious measures to attempt to contain the epidemic, which proved to be more effective than its previous proclamation of an emergency in January.
In contrast to the coronavirus when it first originated, monkeypox is not nearly as contagious as COVID, and vaccinations and therapies are readily accessible. However, it continues to cause worry.
Since it was initially reported in May, the number of cases from the current outbreak outside of Africa has surpassed 3,000 in more than 40 countries, mostly among males who have sex with men. There have not been any reported fatalities.
In some regions of Africa, the virus that causes skin lesions and flu-like symptoms is prevalent. Since the beginning of 2022, the continent has reported slightly over 1,500 suspected cases, 66 of which have been fatal, according to government statistics.
"It is not an emergency when a sickness hits underdeveloped nations. Only when affluent nations are impacted does it turn into an emergency "According to Professor Emmanuel Nakoune, the interim director of the Institut Pasteur in Bangui, Central African Republic, which is conducting a monkeypox therapy study.
Nakoune asserted that it would still be a significant step even if the WHO declared an emergency.
Each country will be able to gain, he stated, "if there is the political resolve to share equally the means of reaction between wealthy and poor countries."
At noon (1000 GMT), the WHO will have a private meeting in Geneva. When the choice will be made public is yet unknown.
Experts from the most impacted areas who have also conferred with scientists like Nakoune will be present at the emergency committee meeting on Thursday. The final say on whether to declare an emergency rests with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who will receive their suggestion.
The main purpose of the action is to raise awareness among member nations and potentially provoke subsequent instructions from the WHO. The WHO has previously offered comprehensive guidelines on the epidemic and stated that it is developing a system for distributing medications and vaccinations.
The majority of specialists concur that monkeypox technically satisfies the WHO definition of an emergency. It is a sudden, uncommon phenomenon that is affecting many countries and requiring international coordination.
Clare Wenham, an assistant professor of global health at the London School of Economics, asserts that the WHO is in a hazardous situation as a result of COVID.
She warned that if the WHO declares an emergency and nations do nothing, the organization's ability to manage illness on a worldwide scale may be jeopardised. She said, "They're damned if they do, and damned if they don't."