The Emergency Committee on monkeypox (mpox) met on Wednesday and advised that the multi-country outbreak is no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, given the sustained decline in cases.
And World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accepted the advice.
The Committee noted a significant decline in reported monkeypox cases compared to the previous reporting period.
In addition, it observed no changes in the severity and clinical manifestation of the disease.
However, the Committee acknowledged remaining uncertainties about the disease.
The uncertainties related to modes of transmission in some countries, poor quality of some reported data, and continued lack of effective countermeasures in the African countries, where mpox occurs regularly.
But the committee considered that these are long-term challenges.
The committee felt countries could better address them through sustained efforts in a transition towards a long-term strategy to manage the public health risks posed by mpox, rather than the emergency measures.
Nevertheless, the Committee emphasised the necessity for long-term partnerships to mobilise the needed financial and technical support for sustaining surveillance, control measures and research to eliminate human-to-human transmission.
