Monkeypox a global emergency – WHO

Published

2 years ago

July 23, 2022

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Saturday declared monkeypox a global health emergency.

The latest development, according to The Telegraph UK, supersedes the earlier decision of the global health panel that considered the impact of the virus not significant enough to be so declared.

But on Saturday, the WHO’s Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, overruled the global health organisation’s panel of advisers to make the designation.

As of June 26, 2022, when the global cases of monkeypox reported were 3,040 infections from 47 countries, the committee’s report advised WHO that the monkeypox outbreak does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), which is the highest level of alert WHO can issue.

The designation of a “public health emergency of international concern” is currently only being used by the WHO for coronavirus and polio.

The latest decision, therefore, signals a possible greater global response to the outbreak which has spread to at least 75 countries within the last few weeks.

“We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little, and which meets the criteria”, he told reporters.

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Mr Ghebreyesus, however, said it was still mostly of concern to homosexual men.

He was quoted to have said; “Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern, for the moment this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners.

“That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups.”

The decision may, therefore, pave the way for better international coordination and collaboration in terms of responses through vaccines and research, and an increase in funding for countries battling the outbreak, The Telegraph Uk reports.

The 15-member International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee was said to have met during the week with members holding divergent positions on the declaration.

While six members voted in favour of the decision, nine had reportedly voted against. But the director general of the global body overruled the decision of the panel by making the declaration.

READ NCDC confirms 15 cases of Monkeypox

But Mr Ghebreyesus had during the week assured that regardless of the committee’s recommendation, WHO would continue to do everything to support countries to stop transmission and save lives.

Speaking on the committee’s decision in June, the Director General said: “The emergency committee shared serious concerns about the scale and speed of the current outbreak, noted many unknown gaps in current data and prepared a consensus report that reflects differing views amongst the committee.

“They advised me that at this moment the event does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), which is the highest level of alert WHO can issue but recognised that the convening of the committee itself reflects the increasing concern about the international spread of monkeypox.”

The Emergency Committee had also established that the current multi-country outbreak is unusual due to its circulation in non-endemic countries, and the fact that the majority of cases were confirmed in gay men who were not previously immunised against smallpox.

Some members of the committee suggested that “given the low level of population immunity against pox virus infection, there is a risk of further, sustained transmission into the wider population that should not be overlooked.”

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In its last situation report, WHO had said this is the first time that local transmission of monkeypox has been reported in new countries without links to countries that have previously reported monkeypox.

As of the time of its publication, the log of cumulative confirmed monkeypox cases reported to WHO shows that between 1 January to 4 July 2022, the European Region topped the infection chart, followed by the Region of the Americas, African Region, Western Pacific Region and the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

A total of about 2,200 people in the United Kingdom and tens of thousands more around the world are said to have been infected.

The United States of America, according to The Telegraph UK, had announced on Friday that it had discovered the first cases of the virus in children.

The two cases were said to be unrelated and “were likely the result of household transmission,” the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

Lifestyle

Appeal court voids law prohibiting unmarried police officers from getting pregnant

Published

3 hours ago

May 5, 2024

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The court of appeal in Lagos has voided the regulations 126 and 127 of the Nigeria Police Act which allow the dismissal of unmarried policewomen who become pregnant while in service.

A three-member panel of justices led by Olubunmi Oyewole ordered the respondents in the suit – attorney-general of the federation (AGF), Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) – to carry out a comprehensive review of the entire police regulations to ensure that they align with the demands of a modern society operating under the rule of law.

“It is unthinkable that the Nigerian Police of this day and age operates on the principle that female officers need to be specially moderated and regulated while their male counterparts are free,” Oyewole held.

“This is unacceptable in a decent and democratic society governed by the rule of law.

“The argument that the deprivation involved was consented to by prospective female police officers who cannot subsequently complain in the face of the constitutional provisions expressly granting them the rights involved as citizens of this country.

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“The rights given go beyond those for the personal benefit of the individuals involved as could be waived by them. They are public rights which accord with the demands of a fair, equitable and humane society.

“These are standards and values demanded of modern nations and which are outside the purview of any individual to waive.

“I, therefore, hold that the said regulations 126 and 127 are inconsistent with the provisions of section 37 and 42 of the Constitution and are therefore null and void to the extent of their inconsistency pursuant to section 1 (3) of the Constitution.

“The Respondents are advised to carry out a comprehensive review of the entire police regulations to ensure that they accord with the demands of a modern society operating under the rule of law.

“I accordingly resolve the two issues in favour of the Appellant and against the Respondents.

“This appeal is meritorious, and it is hereby allowed. Consequently, the decision of the lower court in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/178/2021 delivered on the 21st of February 2022 is hereby set aside.

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“Instead, the questions for determination in the said suit are answered in the affirmative while the reliefs sought therein are granted as prayed. Parties shall bear their respective costs.”

BACKGROUND

TheCable reported that Omolola Olajide, an unmarried police corporal attached to Iye-Ekiti station, was sacked in 2021 for being pregnant.

Babatunde Mobayo, the state commissioner of police, justified Olajide’s sack, insisting that the officer contravened section 127 of the police regulations.

Following the sack, Olawale Fapohunda, Ekiti attorney-general and commissioner for justice, instituted a lawsuit before a federal high court in the state, seeking an order to nullify section 127 of the Police Act.

However, the suit was dismissed because it was an abuse of the court process since a similar case filed by Olajide was pending before the national industrial court.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) approached the Abuja federal high court to challenge the legality of regulation 127 of the police regulations.

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The association contended that the said provision contradicts the 1999 constitution and is discriminatory to unmarried female police officers.

However, Inyang Ekwo, the trial judge, dismissed the suit on February 21, 2022.

He said the suit lacked merit, holding that such unmarried female police officers were aware of the regulation before they joined the force.

Politics

No political crisis in Rivers, says Fubara

Published

5 hours ago

May 5, 2024

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Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has dismissed any notion of political crisis in the oil-rich state, saying his administration has provided focused leadership and governance to the people.

Fubara, who received members of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions at Government House in Port Harcourt on Saturday, said his goal for the Rivers people was delivering good governance.

The governor explained how the pressure from the unwarranted political crisis served as an enabler to strengthen his commitment to service that is now impacting lives positively.

“As far as we are concerned, there are no political issues. I had seen a movie many years ago, entitled, ‘Devil’s Advocate.’ I believe some of you must have seen that movie too,” he stated.

“One of the starring characters: Al Pacino said, that pressure makes some people retreat or fail, and to others, it makes them become focused on succeeding. We have chosen to be focused under this pressure.

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“That is why we are moving ahead. That is why we are making a positive impact on the lives of our people. Governance is about the people. It is not about self.

“Governance is about touching the core needs of those people we are leading, and by the special grace of God, we are doing it.”

Strained Relationship

Rivers State has been embroiled in crisis after a strained relationship between Governor Fubara and his erstwhile political godfather and former governor of the state, Nyesom Wike.

Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), currently serves as a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister under President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

At the height of the crisis last year, 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly dumped the PDP for the APC. The lawmakers, led by the Speaker, are loyal to Wike and accused Governor Fubara of starving them of funds.

READ HEALTH ALERT: WHO warns of ‘contaminated’ cough syrup from India after 66 children die in Gambia

The lawmakers have also been having a strained relationship with the governor and attempted to impeach him in the heat of the political crisis in the state before President Bola Tinubu intervened and invited the feuding parties to Abuja which gave birth to an eight-point resolution.

NDLEA smashes international drug syndicate, arrests five suspects

Published

8 hours ago

May 5, 2024

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An international drug syndicate with networks in parts of Nigeria, South Africa and Thailand has been smashed by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Also, no fewer than five members of the cartel were arrested in a two-week intelligence led operation in Lagos, Abia and Anambra states following the seizure of their illicit drug consignments at the NAHCO import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos.

This was disclosed in a Sunday statement by NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, saying the unravelling of the drug cartel started on Sunday 20th April when their cargo of four big suitcases arrived at the NAHCO shed on an Air Peace airline flight from Johannesburg, South Africa.

He said that the first suspect, Umeh Chisom Peter was arrested on Wednesday 24th April after he showed up to pick up two of the suitcases containing Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis owned by a Thailand-based member of the syndicate, Obum Michael.

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According to Babafemi, the consignment of four parcels was concealed in false bottoms of the two suitcases, while the four suitcases contain a total of 17.6 kilograms Loud and drug candies.

He said another member of the syndicate, Mrs. Chiwendu Uche Ugbe whose South Africa based husband, Aloytus Uche Ugbe sent some of the consignments, was traced to Anambra state where NDLEA officers arrested her on Saturday 27th April while attempting to collect the drug parcels sent to her by her husband.

Two other suspects: Onyejakor Francis Chimezie and Naaji Valentine Chukwukere, with links to the cartel, were also arrested in parts of Lagos on Monday 29th April.

He stated that their arrest led to another operation in Abia state where Mrs. Chinazo Osigwe was arrested when she was to pick up some of the parcels containing Loud and drug candies sent by her husband, Osigwe Chidiebere Anthony who is equally operating from South Africa.