The European Commission approved, on Monday 25 July, the extension of the use of the smallpox vaccine Imvanex developed by Bavarian Nordic A/S for the treatment of monkeypox (see EUROPE 12998/24). This vaccine is subject to a European joint purchase agreement (see EUROPE 12995/35).
The response to this outbreak was the topic of a video conference by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health, represented by Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA). Commissioner Kyriakides recalled the different tools available: contact tracing, vaccination, medicines (management is mainly symptomatic) and clear communication to the public.
On 23 July, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced that monkeypox was a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (IHR). This statement came at the end of the second IHR emergency committee meeting on monkeypox, which took place on 21 July. The WHO has issued temporary recommendations to prevent transmission, intensify case detection and improve communication by avoiding stigmatisation of patients. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)