With more than 2,100 infections in non-endemic countries, monkeypox is “real and concerning”, World Health Organisation officials said on Wednesday.
During a press conference for its Eastern Mediterranean region, WHO officials said the body will convene an emergency committee on June 23 to specifically address the rising number of monkeypox cases worldwide.
The world health body said, however, that there was no need for a mass vaccination campaign and that treatments for those infected should focus on symptoms until medications that target the virus become more widely available.
It also addressed the continuing controversy over the nomenclature of two separate types of monkeypox: the West African clade — responsible for the 2022 outbreak — and the Congo Basin (Central African) clade.
A petition protesting the labelling of the two clades was submitted to the WHO this month by a group of scientists who called for the renaming of the disease without mentioning its specific geographical origin, as this could lead to negative impressions of those countries.
The WHO's acting Regional Emergency Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Rick Brennan said during the conference that a renaming committee is currently overseeing the request and restated an earlier promise by the organisation’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, that the disease will be given a scientific name based on its genome — a practice that was not adopted when monkeypox was first discovered, resulting in the inappropriate names of its subtypes.
In response to critics who say the renaming of the illness is simply a means of pacifying the African continent before it yet again gets the short end of the stick with regard to the availability of vaccines and treatments for monkeypox, the WHO said that equitable distribution of medicines is a top priority.
This is one of the most important lessons it learnt from Covid-19, it said, when vaccine availability was markedly higher in developed countries than it was in poorer countries.
While there are not yet any medications that treat monkeypox directly, it is genetically similar to smallpox, the WHO said, which means antiviral drugs such as tecovirimat could prove to be effective in combating it.
But production of this drug has thus far been slow due to the small number of cases of the diseases it treats.
The WHO said it is currently working with manufacturers to ramp up production of monkeypox treatments as well as vaccinations, but they will initially be reserved for healthcare workers frequently exposed to the virus.
The organisation said that its Eastern Mediterranean regional office is working closely with the healthcare apparatuses of the UAE, Morocco and Lebanon, which have recorded cases among residents.
The WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Regional Director Ahmed El Mandhari said during Wednesday’s conference that the current situation remains an “outbreak” as it has not yet spread widely enough to be called an epidemic. He urged anyone experiencing symptoms to report to their nearest healthcare facility.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Stuck in a job without a pay rise? Here's what to do
Chris Greaves, the managing director of Hays Gulf Region, says those without a pay rise for an extended period must start asking questions – both of themselves and their employer.
“First, are they happy with that or do they want more?” he says. “Job-seeking is a time-consuming, frustrating and long-winded affair so are they prepared to put themselves through that rigmarole? Before they consider that, they must ask their employer what is happening.”
Most employees bring up pay rise queries at their annual performance appraisal and find out what the company has in store for them from a career perspective.
Those with no formal appraisal system, Mr Greaves says, should ask HR or their line manager for an assessment.
“You want to find out how they value your contribution and where your job could go,” he says. “You’ve got to be brave enough to ask some questions and if you don’t like the answers then you have to develop a strategy or change jobs if you are prepared to go through the job-seeking process.”
For those that do reach the salary negotiation with their current employer, Mr Greaves says there is no point in asking for less than 5 per cent.
“However, this can only really have any chance of success if you can identify where you add value to the business (preferably you can put a monetary value on it), or you can point to a sustained contribution above the call of duty or to other achievements you think your employer will value.”
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
MATCH INFO
Serie A
Juventus v Fiorentina, Saturday, 8pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
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Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
