In its weekly assessment of the pandemic issued on Thursday, the UN health agency said there were 8,700 COVID-19 deaths last week, with a 21% jump in the Americas and a 17% increase in the Western Pacific.
Vaccines for smallpox, a related disease, are thought to be about 85% effective against monkeypox. WHO’s Europe director, Dr. Hans Kluge, said Wednesday he was concerned by the scramble by some rich countries to buy more vaccines without talk of buying supplies for Africa.
The WHO aims to consult experts in orthopoxviruses on more appropriate names for the monkeypox virus. Earlier during coronavirus pandemic, people around the world referred to the Covid virus as China or Wuhan virus, and again the emergence of a Covid strain in South Africa led to travel bans, prompting the WHO to quickly rename SARS-CoV-2.
WHO noted that although monkeypox is not as transmissible or dangerous as Covid, there needs to be clearer guidance as to how a person infected by monkeypox should be isolated, more explicit advice on how to protect people who are at risk, and improved testing and contact tracing.
Even after two years, WHO's recent report states that key pieces of data that can explain how the pandemic began are still missing.
The Monkeypox virus may have been transmitted for months or years undetected though investigations are ongoing and there are clear no answers yet, said WHO.
At a briefing on Wednesday, WHO’s emergencies chief Dr Mike Ryan appealed to North Korean authorities for more information about COVID outbreak there, saying “we have real issues in getting access to raw data and to the actual situation on the ground.”
In a public session on Monday, WHO’s Dr Rosamund Lewis said it was critical to emphasize that the vast majority of cases being seen in dozens of countries globally are in gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men, so that scientists can further study the issue and for populations at risk to take precautions.
Tedros, a former government minister from Ethiopia, has directed WHO throughout its management of the global response to COVID-19 and withstood occasionally withering criticism over its multiple missteps.
Monkeypox virus itself is not a sexually transmitted infection, which are generally spread through semen and vaginal fluids, the most recent surge in cases appears to have been spread among men who have sex with other men, WHO officials said, emphasising that anyone can contract monkeypox.
The World Health Organisation has called for an emergency meeting to discuss the recent outbreak of monkeypox. Cases have been confirmed in Europe in the United Kingdom, Spain Portugal, Germany, and Italy. United States, Canada, and Australia have also reported cases.
At a media briefing, WHO D-G Tedros Adhanom described China’s “zero-COVID” strategy as “not sustainable” after similar remarks last week drew sharp criticism from China.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier attacked the government over a WHO report which claimed there were 4.7 million Covid deaths in India, saying "science does not lie, Prime Minister Narendra Modi does".
WHO released the world's Covid-19 death estimates, and said that the full death toll associated directly or indirectly with the COVID-19 pandemic between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 was approximately 14.9 million worldwide. (range 13.3 million to 16.6 million).
Health authorities have been investigating the mystery illness, which has affected young people ranging from one month to 16 years old since a cluster of cases have been identified in Scotland between January and mid-April.
The PM christened WHO director with this name at the Global AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) Investment and Innovation Summit in Gujarat's Gandhinagar.
PM Modi said that the possibilities of investment and innovation in the field of AYUSH are limitless. "We are already witnessing an unprecedented boom in the production of AYUSH medicines, supplements and cosmetics," added the Prime Minister.
The WHO chief was accompanied by PM Narendra Modi, who is on a 3-day visit to Gujarat. He addressed the public in Gujarat's regional language Gujarati.
PM Modi and his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Kumar Jugnauth laid the foundation stone for the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicines.
The director of World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, will be on a three-day visit to Gujarat, starting Monday.
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