Admin l Wednesday, 17 August 2022
GENEVA – Monkeypox infections has multiplied, now over 35,000 cases in 92 countries globally, the World Health Organisation, WHO has said.
WHO also said that 12 deaths have been recorded worldwide.
“Almost 7,500 cases were reported last week, a 20 per cent increase over the previous week, which was also 20 per cent more than the week before,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva.
Ghebreyesus said majority of the cases cases are being reported from Europe and the Americas, and mostly among men who have sex with men.
“The primary focus for all countries must be to ensure they are ready for monkeypox, and to stop transmission using effective public health tools, including enhanced disease surveillance, careful contact tracing, tailored risk communication and community engagement, and risk reduction measures,” Ghebreyesus explained.
According to him, global supplies of Monkeypox vaccines are limited but that WHO is in contact with manufacturers, and with countries and organizations willing to share vaccine .
“We remain concerned that the inequitable access to vaccines we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic will be repeated, and that the poorest will continue to be left behind,” , he said.