Monkeypox: WHO Is Fighting the Last War

On July 23, , the World Health Organization declared that the monkeypox outbreak is a public-health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), defined as “an extraordinary event, which constitutes a public health risk to other States through international spread, and which potentially requires a coordinated international response.” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the emergency declaration despite the fact that a majority of a WHO emergency advisory committee voted against doing so. The question is why?

The likely answer: Covid-19. Like a general fighting the last war, the director-general does not want to be seen as repeating the mistakes and missteps of WHO’s pandemic response.