Skip to content
Business
Prognosis

WHO Chief Overrules Panel to Call Monkeypox Global Emergency

  • Move aimed at helping nations cooperate to curb the outbreak
  • WHO chief Tedros intervenes after expert panel was divided
A medical professional prepares a dose of the monkeypox vaccine in London, UK, on July 23.
A medical professional prepares a dose of the monkeypox vaccine in London, UK, on July 23.

Photographer: Hollie Adams/Getty Images

Updated on

The monkeypox outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern, the head of the World Health Organization said, overruling a divided expert panel to issue the group’s highest alert. 

The move paves the way for stepped-up global cooperation to stop the virus, which has spread to dozens of countries. The last time the WHO made a similar declaration was during the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak in January 2020.