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As monkeypox cases cross 18K globally, WHO advises reducing sex partners
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 5 million and 10 million doses of vaccine will be needed to protect all high-risk groups from the monkeypox outbreak.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday urged men at risk of catching monkeypox to consider reducing their sexual partners “for the moment” following the UN health agency declaring the escalating outbreaks in multiple countries to be a global emergency.
The WHO said there have been more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox reported globally from 78 countries, with the majority in Europe, reported Reuters.
Tedros said 98 per cent of the monkeypox cases detected since the outbreaks emerged in May have been among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. He called for those at risk to take steps to protect themselves.
“That means making safe choices for yourself and others, for men who have sex with men,” Tedros said. “This includes, for the moment, reducing your number of sexual partners.”
"This is an outbreak that can be stopped... The best way to do that is to reduce the risk of exposure," Tedros told a news conference from Geneva. "That means making safe choices for yourself and others."
"This is an outbreak that can be stopped... The best way to do that is to reduce the risk of exposure," Tedros told a news conference from Geneva. "That means making safe choices for yourself and others."
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 5 million and 10 million doses of vaccine will be needed to protect all high-risk groups from the monkeypox outbreak.
The UN agency is recommending vaccination for high-risk groups, including healthcare workers, and men who have sex with men with multiple sexual partners.
Monkeypox is in the process of being renamed, to avoid the name being "weaponised" or used in a racist way, WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan said.
On Saturday, the WHO declared the outbreak a global health emergency.
Around 10 per cent of patients have been hospitalised in the current outbreak and five have died, all of them in Africa, the WHO said.
