Health News Roundup: WHO declares global health emergency over monkeypox outbreak; WHO's Tedros acted as a tie-breaker to break disagreement over the Monkeypox designation and more

The committee, which met on Thursday, provides advice to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is responsible for making the final decision over whether to declare a global health emergency. China reports 982 new COVID cases for July 23 vs 817 a day earlier Mainland China reported 982 new coronavirus cases for July 23, of which 129 were symptomatic and 853 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Sunday.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 25-07-2022 10:41 IST | Created: 25-07-2022 10:33 IST
Health News Roundup: WHO declares global health emergency over monkeypox outbreak; WHO's Tedros acted as a tie-breaker to break disagreement over the Monkeypox designation and more
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

WHO declares global health emergency over monkeypox outbreak

The rapidly spreading monkeypox outbreak represents a global health emergency, the World Health Organization's highest level of alert, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday. The WHO label - a "public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)" - is designed to trigger a coordinated international response and could unlock funding to collaborate on sharing vaccines and treatments.

WHO's Tedros acted as a tie-breaker to break disagreement over the Monkeypox designation

World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday he had to act as a tie-breaker to resolve a disagreement on whether to declare the Monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency. Nine members of the expert committee were against the designation with six in favor, Tedros told reporters after the WHO gave the virus the highest level of alert.

Record number of COVID-hit Australians in hospital as Omicron surges

The number of Australians admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 hit a record of about 5,450 on Monday, official data showed, as the spread of highly contagious new Omicron sub-variants strains the healthcare system nationwide. The figure has grown since late June, as the BA.4 and BA.5 strains became dominant since they can evade immune protection, whether from vaccination or prior infection, while some experts say the latter can be as infectious as measles.

China says COVID vaccines are safe as it reveals leaders have received shots

China's COVID-19 vaccines are safe and have been given to leaders of the state and ruling Communist Party, officials said on Saturday, as Beijing steps up efforts to allay public concerns about safety that risk hampering its vaccination drive.

"China's state and Party leaders have all been vaccinated against COVID-19 with domestically-made shots," said Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the National Health Commission.

China reports 800 new COVID cases for July 24 vs 982 days earlier

Mainland China reported 800 new coronavirus cases on July 24, of which 150 were symptomatic and 650 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Monday. That compared with 982 new cases a day earlier - 129 symptomatic and 853 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.

China says medical insurance fund in the black, responding to concerns

China's national medical insurance fund ran a small surplus last year, a healthcare authority said on Saturday, a rare disclosure following public concern that the fund was losing money due to massive COVID-19 tests. The fund received 2.88 trillion yuan ($441 billion) in income in 2021 while spending 2.4 trillion yuan, the National Healthcare Security Administration said in a statement on its website.

Pakistan reports polio case to take year's count to 13

Pakistan's polio count for the year has risen to 13 with one case reported on Friday as the South Asian nation looks to contain a disease mostly eradicated elsewhere, officials said

The latest case was found in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and involved an 18-month-old boy reported to be undernourished, the health ministry said in a statement.

WHO experts split on monkeypox emergency ahead of decision - sources

Members of a World Health Organization (WHO) expert group are split over whether the monkeypox outbreak represents a global health emergency, but the agency's director-general may still issue the maximum alert on Saturday, two sources close to the decision told Reuters. The committee, which met on Thursday, provides advice to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is responsible for making the final decision over whether to declare a global health emergency.

China reports 982 new COVID cases for July 23 vs 817 a day earlier

Mainland China reported 982 new coronavirus cases for July 23, of which 129 were symptomatic and 853 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Sunday. That compares with 817 new cases a day earlier - 164 symptomatic and 653 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.

High Anxiety: How to handle the cost of a stressed-out dog

Arielle Carey has a seven-year-old neutered male American pit bull terrier named Odin who is sweet as pie at home in Atlanta – that is...until Odin gets freaked out by people and dogs he does not know. When Carey's former community in South Carolina did not allow privacy fencing, she moved back to Georgia. It was not a cheap journey: the move plus additional training totaled in thousands of dollars.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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