Fact Check: 2023 statement on monkeypox by WHO chief falsely linked to 2024 outbreak
A video falsely claims that WHO chief Tedros has declared that monkeypox is no longer a global health emergency in 2024.
By Sibahathulla Sakib Published on 30 Aug 2024 7:43 AM GMT
Claim: The video shows WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announcing that monkeypox is no longer a global health emergency in 2024.
Fact: The claim is misleading. The WHO chiefās announcement is from 2023.
Hyderabad: A surge in monkeypox cases has been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and nearby countries, raising health concerns across the region. The Mpox virus has two strains, known as clade I and clade II. The current outbreak in Africa is said to be attributed to clade I, which is predominantly affecting gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.
In this context, a video has gone viral allegedly showing WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declaring Monkeypox no longer a global health emergency in 2024.
An X user shared the video with the caption, āAfter only just declaring a Global Health Emergency, The WHO Director General Tedros reversed that decision!ā (Archive)
In the 29-second video, Tedros is seen saying, āYesterday the emergency committee for MPox met and recommended to me that the multi-country outbreak of MPox no longer represents a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice and I am pleased to declare that the MPox is no longer a global health emergency.ā
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The announcement in the video was made on May 15, 2023.
Through a reverse image search, we found the original video uploaded on the official WHO YouTube channel on May 15, 2023, with the title āMpox no longer represents a public health emergency of international concernā
In the video, Tedros explained the global Mpox emergency outbreak that began in July 2022. He stated there had been a decrease in Mpox cases in the preceding months and subsequently announced the end of the global health emergency.
However, the video has been clipped from the 36-second to the 56-second mark, where Tedros announces the end of the global health emergency. This clipped part is being shared on social media without the full context that shows that the video is not from 2024.
Through a keyword search, we found a report on the WHO website published on August 14, 2024, titled, āWHO Director-General declares Mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concernā.
According to the report, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the rise in Mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other African countries as a public health emergency of international concern under the International Health Regulations (2005).
The report also mentioned that Dr Tedrosās declaration was based on the advice of an IHR Emergency Committee of independent experts. The committee informed Dr Tedros that the rise in Mpox cases is a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) with the potential to spread further across Africa and possibly beyond.
We found an X post shared on August 23, 2024, through the official WHO handle stating that Mpox was declared a public health emergency of international concern on August 14, 2024.
The post also included a video featuring Dr Otim Patrick Ramadan, team lead for Acute Events Management at WHO AFRO, explaining the signs and symptoms of the disease.
The report reveals that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is experiencing its largest Mpox outbreak to date, with tens of thousands infected by June. The government declared it an epidemic in December 2022.
A timeline of both (2022-23 and 2024) Mpox outbreaks shows the misleading nature of the claim.
In May 2022 the first wave of Mpox (Monkey Pox) was reported and WHO declared it as an outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on July 22, 2022. On May 15, 2023, considering the decline of cases WHO announced that Mpox is no more a public health emergency.
Again, in August 2024, WHO declared the Mpox outbreak as a āPublic Health Emergency of International Concernā considering the rapid spread. Since the beginning of this year deadly variant has killed 575 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo
According to the Al Jazeera report titled, āWhere and why is Mpox disease spreading in the DRC?ā dated July 4, 2024, by the end of May 2024, 7,851 cases and 384 deaths had been reported, with children under five years old making up 39 per cent of the infected. Tragically, nearly two-thirds (62%) of those who have died are also children.
Moreover, there are no official reports or statements from WHO indicating that the emergency has been called off. In fact, WHO has reinforced the public health emergency status due to the rising cases in Africa.
Hence, we conclude that the claim is misleading.
