I’m over 35,000 cases of monkeypox reported to the World Health Organization by 92 countries, with 12 deaths. About 7,500 were registered last week, 20% more than the previous week, which in turn had marked a + 20%. This is the updated bulletin, released by the WHO director general, Tedros Ghebreyesus, during the usual press conference in Geneva.
Almost all cases, Tedros points out, “have been reported in Europe and the Americas and among men who have sex with men, highlighting the importance for all countries of developing and disseminating services and information aimed at these communities. able to protect their health, human rights and dignity “.
“We remain concerned that the unfair access to vaccines that we saw during the Covid-19 pandemic is repeated” also for monkeypox and “that the poorest continue to be left behind”, the alarm cry launched by the WHO director general. The World Health Organization, Tedros specifies, “is in close contact with vaccine manufacturers and with countries and organizations that are willing to share doses”.
“Vaccines can play an important role in controlling the monkeypox epidemic and in many countries there is a strong demand for vaccines from affected communities”, underlines Tedros, recalling however that “for the moment, vaccine supplies and data on their effectiveness are limited, even if we are starting to receive data from some countries “.