Comment The head of the World Health Organization has suggested men who have sex with men temporarily limit the number of sexual partners they have as monkeypox cases rise in their community – a shift in messaging from the World Health Organization, days after an increase in threat alert level for the monkeypox outbreak. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the comments on Wednesday during a press conference, in which he said 98% of monkeypox cases have been reported in men who have sex with men. Tedros said “this is a stoppable outbreak” as long as governments take appropriate measures and people stay informed and protected from the virus. “For men who have sex with men, this includes, for now, reducing the number of sexual partners you have, reconsidering sex with new partners, and sharing contact information with any new partners to enable tracking if necessary.” , said Tedros. Since the monkeypox outbreak was first reported by the WHO in May, public health officials have tried to balance the need to reach out to the community that faces most of the transmission — men who have sex with men, including gay men and of bisexual men – and the desire not to stigmatize members of that community or give the impression that monkeypox only affects men who have sex with men. “Anyone exposed can get monkeypox,” Tedros said on Wednesday, as he urged countries to “reduce the risk of transmission to other vulnerable groups,” including children, pregnant women and those with weak immune systems. However, as it has become clear that monkeypox is currently spreading mainly among men who have sex with men, there have been increasing calls for health services and governments to make a more specific approach to members of this community. What you need to know about monkeypox symptoms, treatments and protection Monkeypox is spread primarily through close physical contact between humans, although it can also be passed from a pregnant person to her fetus through the placenta and when a person touches contaminated clothing and other objects, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ). Symptoms of monkeypox infection include fever, muscle pain, and a rash or blisters that look like chickenpox. More than 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported to WHO from 78 countries, although most cases are in Europe, the epicenter of the outbreak. Five of those cases resulted in death, the WHO said. More than 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in more than 70 countries since July 2022. Here’s what you need to know about how it spreads. (Video: Joy Yi, Fenit Nirappil/The Washington Post, Photo: CDC/The Washington Post) More than 4,600 monkeypox infections have been reported in the United States, where President Biden is considering whether to declare the outbreak a public health emergency. For its part, the WHO declared monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern” – the highest level of threat – at the weekend, after an emergency committee convened by the world health organization once refused last month to recommend that the WHO take this step. Tedros, the WHO chief, said on Saturday he was making the final call after committee members remained divided over whether the high-alert declaration was warranted. One of the reasons for the hesitation was the lack of evidence that monkeypox is spreading to the wider population. Although monkeypox has spread primarily among men who have sex with men in this outbreak, it has been endemic for decades outside this community in West and Central African countries. As the Washington Post reported, experts believe the latest outbreak could have spread first through gay social networks and in locations frequented by men who have sex with men, including European saunas and festivals. WHO declares monkeypox global health emergency as infections soar The monkeypox outbreak has highlighted disparities in access to health care for gay and bisexual men in the United States, where there are not enough vaccines and providers capable of administering antiviral treatments to help everyone who wants to be protected from the virus. contamination. As the nation’s health care system struggles to respond, many experts are recalling the public health response to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, when gay male scapegoats died of the disease in large numbers when effective treatments were not yet available. “Experience shows that stigmatizing rhetoric can quickly disable an evidence-based response, fueling cycles of fear, turning people away from health services, hindering case-finding efforts and encouraging ineffective, punitive measures,” Matthew Kavanagh, deputy executive director of the Joint. The United Nations HIV/AIDS Program said in May as it called for caution over messages about monkeypox. Fight to protect gay, bisexual men from monkey pox reveals inequalities In its guidance on monkeypox public health messages for gay and bisexual men, the CDC said: “It is important to reach any disproportionately affected community with non-alarmist, fact-based messages about monkeypox that provide people tools that others can use to protect themselves.” Tedros – whose recommendations on Wednesday appeared to be more specific than previous WHO guidance – said any effective response to the outbreak must empower “communities of men who have sex with men to reduce the risk of infection and further transmission”. But the response must be framed, he said, in ways that “protect human rights and dignity.” “Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus and can fuel the outbreak,” he added. Fenit Nirappil contributed to this report.
