1 week Ago By The Straits Times
Nabeel Goheer An mpox patient waiting for treatment at the Kavumu hospital in Kabare territory, South Kivu region, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Sept 3. As the world emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic, political leaders around the globe stressed that lessons would be learnt and governments would be better prepared for the next crisis. Yet, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recent declaration that the current mpox outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern shows how hollow these promises have been.
The state of the outbreak highlights the complexity of the challenge, but it is an outcome that the global public health community has been warning about for years. Given that the first human case of mpox was identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo several decades ago, the current situation illustrates the need for a total overhaul of current systems and structures that have allowed this public health failure to unfold. Already a subscriber? Log in Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month $9.
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