Geneva: Europe and the Arabs
A senior official at the World Health Organization said that monkeypox (monkeypox) is not the "new Covid disease", and stressed the need for European governments to show strong political commitment to eradicate it while standing in solidarity with Africa in this regard. According to the UN daily news bulletin, a copy of which we received this morning, Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, spoke to journalists at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, stressing that the risks of monkeypox to the general population are low and refusing to compare it to the Covid-19 pandemic "regardless of whether it is type 1, which is behind the current outbreak in East Central Africa, or type 2, which is behind the 2022 outbreak that initially affected Europe and has continued to appear in Europe since then."
The World Health Organization declared monkeypox (monkeypox), a rapidly spreading viral disease, a public health emergency of international concern last week. “We know how to control the ampox, and we know – in the European region – what steps are needed to eliminate its transmission completely,” said the WHO’s Europe director.

The WHO says monkeypox is transmitted from person to person through close contact, such as face-to-face contact (which can generate droplets or short-range aerosols), or skin-to-skin contact. The virus was primarily spread during the global outbreak in 2022 through sexual contact, the organization said.

Sweden was the first country outside Africa to record a case of monkeypox type 1, which has spread from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to neighbouring countries.

Dr Kluge called for Europe to stand in solidarity with Africa, particularly with regard to equitable access to vaccines. The WHO recommends three vaccines against the disease. Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesman for the organization, said one vaccine manufacturer had the capacity to manufacture 10 million doses by the end of 2025 and could supply up to 2 million doses this year. He added that another vaccine manufactured on behalf of the Japanese government is available in large quantities, and said Japan has been very generous in the past with its donations and is now negotiating with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported more than 15,600 monkeypox cases this year and 540 deaths from the disease.