The United States Department of Health and Human Services (USA) declared this Thursday a national public health emergency due to the current outbreak of monkeypox in that country.
READ ALSO:
Nicaragua accuses the US of violating sugar trade regulations
During a press conference, the Secretary of Health, Xavier Becerra, assured that the health system is ready to raise the response to a higher level to access emergency funds, improve the management of vaccines and treatments against the disease.
In addition, this decision will make it possible to strengthen awareness and information actions for citizens to help stop the infection rates.
“We encourage all Americans to take monkeypox seriously and take responsibility to help us deal with this virus,” Becerra said.
In light of evolving circumstances on the ground, I am declaring a public health emergency on #monkeypox. We are prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus. We urge every American to take monkeypox seriously.
– Secretary Xavier Becerra (@SecBecerra)
August 4, 2022
The Secretary of Health indicated that, so far, nearly 600,000 vaccines have been delivered in the country’s states, after the authorities announced last week that more than a million compounds against monkeypox would be available.
For next September they hope to receive 150,000 doses, and others between the months of October and November.
For her part, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky, maintained that the emergency declaration will force state health departments to disclose information to federal authorities quickly and in a timely manner about the disease. , in order to hit the response levels.
The official stressed that the vaccination campaign against the disease will prioritize populations at risk, that is, men who maintain intimate contact with other men and are positive patients for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as well as populations with a higher risk of contracting it. .
Today, HHS declared a public health emergency in response to the current #monkeypox outbreak.
This means CDC and state & local health departments can take critical actions more quickly and better meet the demands of this outbreak. https://t.co/CddfyD5yRa
— Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH (@CDCDirector)
August 4, 2022
“Putting those two populations together, we estimate that there are between 1.6 and 1.7 billion people at the highest level of risk from monkeypox right now,” he said.
In turn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Robert Califf, revealed that his office has found solutions to reverse the lack of vaccines, consisting of intradermally administering a fifth of the dose contained in a vial, so that up to five people can be vaccinated with one.
So far, the US has detected more than 6,500 cases of monkeypox, although the authorities expect infections to increase in the coming weeks, and urge the population to be alert.
On July 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) described monkeypox as an international health emergency, after more than 16,000 positive cases were registered in 75 countries where it is not endemic, and several deaths.