O’Neill’s Gostin on WHO’s Declaration of Mpox As a Global Public Health Emergency

Please see below for a statement from Lawrence Gostin, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, on the WHO declaring the mpox outbreak in Africa a public health emergency of international concern: 

I applaud the World Health Organization’s (WHO) decision to declare the ongoing outbreak of mpox in African countries as a global health emergency. This is historic because it is the first time a regional and global health emergency have both been declared. It is a moment to celebrate African empowerment and to call for global solidarity.

We need to act urgently to protect people and prevent this outbreak from escalating into a pandemic. The coordinated response from the WHO and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) must be rooted in equity and solidarity if we are going to contain this outbreak.