By Oluwaseun Sonde
Director General of World Health Organisation WHO, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus has revealed that almost 14,000 monkeypox cases have now been reported this year, from more than 70 countries and territories.
The DG made this known on Wednesday, while confirmed five reported deaths all in Africa, promised that the WHO will continue to do everything it can to support countries to stop transmission and save lives.
Ghebreyesus who has earlier said that the Emergency Committee will reconvene this week and look at trends, how effective the counter measures are and make recommendations for what countries and communities should do to tackle the outbreak.
He noted that WHO is working closely with civil society and LGBTIQ and community, especially to tackle the stigma around the virus, spread information so people can stay safe in countries, vaccine manufacturers to coordinate the sharing of vaccines
and experts to drive forward research and development.
"We must work to stop onward monkeypox transmission, as WHO advises governments to implement contact tracing to help track and stem the virus, while assisting people in isolation.
"We're seeing a declining trend in some countries, others are still seeing an increase, and six countries reported their first cases last week. Some of these countries have much less access to diagnostics and test kits, making the outbreak harder to track, and harder to stop".
The DG stated that WHO is validating, procuring and shipping tests to multiple countries and will continue to provide support for expanded access to effective diagnostics.
"One of the most powerful tools we have against monkeypox is information. The more information people at risk of monkeypox have, the more they are able to protect themselves.
"That’s why WHO is continuing to work with patients and community advocates to develop and deliver information tailored to the affected communities, and more likely to be accepted and implemented", he said.
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