The World Health Organization has declared the mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new form of the virus spreading. Few vaccine doses are available on the continent.
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00:00Last week, I announced that I was convening an emergency committee under the International
00:06Health Regulations to evaluate the upsurge of MPOCs in the Democratic Republic of the
00:13Congo and other countries in Africa.
00:17Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that, in its view, the situation constitutes
00:25a public health emergency of international concern.
00:29I have accepted that advice.
00:33The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of MPOCs in eastern DRC, its detection in
00:40neighboring countries that had not previously reported MPOCs, and the potential for further
00:45spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying.
00:51In addition to other outbreaks of other clades of MPOCs in other parts of Africa, it is clear
00:58that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and
01:03save lives.
01:05A public health emergency of international concern is the highest level of alarm under
01:10international law.
01:13The emergency committee's advice to me and that of the African CDC Centers for Disease
01:19Control and Prevention, which yesterday declared a public health emergency of regional security,
01:26are aligned.
01:27WHO is on the ground, working with the affected countries and others at risk through our country
01:35and regional offices, as well as with partners including the African CDC, NGOs, civil society
01:42and more.