World Health Network declares monkeypox outbreak a pandemic

The WHN announcement comes ahead of the WHO meeting to be held on 23 June

The World Health Network (WHN) has declared the current monkeypox outbreak a pandemic. Around 3,417 cases are confirmed. The outbreak is rapidly expanding across multiple continents and will not stop without concerted global effort. The WHN announcement comes ahead of the WHO meeting to be held on 23 June to decide on their monkeypox outbreak designation. Even though the death rates are much lower than smallpox, unless actions are taken to stop the ongoing spread, millions of people will die, and many more will become blind and disabled.

WHN said that the essential purpose of declaring monkeypox a pandemic is to achieve a concerted effort across multiple countries or over the world to prevent widespread harm. The best time to act is now. By taking immediate action, the outbreak can be controlled with the least effort and can be prevented from getting worse. Any delay would make the situation harder and the consequences more severe", said Yaneer Bar-Yam, Ph.D., President of New England Complex System Institute and co-founder of WHN. The WHO needs to immediately declare its own Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)—the lessons of not declaring a PHEIC immediately in early January 2020 should be remembered and not repeated," said Eric Feigl-Ding, Ph.D., Epidemiologist and Health Economist, and co-founder of WHN.