• WHO refrained from naming the monkeypox outbreak a global public health emergency.
• To discuss the monkeypox outbreak, WHO called a meeting of its emergency committee.
• Tedros called for increased surveillance for monkeypox.

Following a meeting of the emergency committee, the World Health Organization refrained from naming the monkeypox outbreak a global public health emergency.

To discuss the seriousness of the monkeypox outbreak, the WHO called a meeting of its emergency committee for Thursday. The meeting’s outcome was made public on Saturday.

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“Overall, in the report, they (the emergency committee) advised me that at this time the event does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, which is the highest level of alert WHO can issue, but recognised that the emergency committee’s formation itself reflects growing concern about the spread of monkeypox internationally,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement made public on Saturday.

Despite the fact that “men who have sex with men have been most affected in these new outbreaks,” Tedros warned on Thursday that “there are also risks of severe disease for immunocompromised persons, pregnant women, and children if they are infected.” Tedros called for increased surveillance for monkeypox.

Tedros added in his opening remarks at the meeting that healthcare personnel are also at risk if they don’t wear the proper personal protective equipment.

Tedros stated last week that “the virus is acting strangely from how it used to behave in the past” and that a concerted response was required as additional nations were afflicted.

The statement released on Saturday acknowledged the “developing health danger” that the WHO would be actively monitoring.

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