According to the World Health Organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the meeting scheduled for July 18 or sooner aims to establish whether this outbreak must be declared an international health emergency or remain at the "moderate" risk level.
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Europe Reports More Than 4,500 Cases of Monkeypox in Two Weeks
The director-general said that the monkeypox virus has already infected over 6 000 people across 58 countries, mainly in Europe, adding that this region accounts for 80 percent of the cases.
Although the number of infected people worldwide is estimated to be higher, a shortage of diagnostic tests hinders a proper assessment of the situation.
The official voiced concern about the spread of the virus in Central and West African endemic regions. These regions remained untouched when this outbreak began last May in the UK.
The director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reported on Wednesday that this organization had convened the Emergency Committee again with the aim of evaluating the evolution of the monkeypox outbreak.
Amid the current difficult situation regarding vaccines, which are also in shortage, Tedros said that "WHO is working with countries and vaccines manufacturers to coordinate the delivery of vaccines," which "must be accessible to the most vulnerable people."
WHO said that efforts are being made to ensure that trustworthy information is provided, so society is better prepared to deal with this type of virus.
Tedros said this is a disease that "can affect anyone." In this respect, he noted the WHO is committed to working with the LGTBIQ+ community to break the stigma associated with the virus' transmission.