Re: Monkeypox
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2022 3:25 pm
DISCUSS: WHO declares monkeypox “global emergency”
https://off-guardian.org/2022/07/23/dis ... emergency/
https://off-guardian.org/2022/07/23/dis ... emergency/
Following their second emergency meeting on monkeypox in less than a month, WHO Director-General Thedros Adhanom told the press:
For anyone living under a rock for the past two years, a PHEIC is defined as:
- "In short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations […] For all of these reasons I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a global health emergency of international concern.”
It is the highest alert WHO can issue, and grants them legal authority to issue travel warnings or restrictions, inspect and critique the public health measures of member states and other things of that nature.
- "an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response”
Exactly what that means in this instance, and what form the “coordinated international response” will take, it is currently too early to tell.
Interestingly, according to the Guardian, this was entirely Ghebreyesus’ decision, that the committee was “deadlocked”, and he broke the deadlock and declared the PHEIC without a majority vote:
Just last month, at their first emergency summit on monkeypox, the WHO declined to brand it a PHEIC (to some confusion among the pundit class).
- the WHO’s director general, said at a press conference that the committee met on Thursday to review the latest data, but that they were unable to reach a consensus. However, he has since decided to break the deadlock by declaring a PHEIC
Presumably Ghebreyesus could have “broken the deadlock” then, too, but declined to do so.
What’s changed since then? ...