White House Plans to Declare a Public Health Emergency for Monkeypox

President Joe Biden’s administration is putting in motion plans to declare monkeypox a public health emergency, amid pressure as access to treatment is limited and cases are steadily rising across the United States.

CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen noted that a 42 percent increase in monkeypox cases in the course of one week has encouraged the White House to begin the process of declaring a public health emergency, a label that would unlock funding for treatment distribution and research. ‘It may seem like just a name,” said Cohen but this move could help the U.S. address the virus in a more targeted and organized approach explained the senior medical correspondent.

The Biden administration plans to declare the outbreak a public health emergency as soon as Thursday, which would come from Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

Becerra is expected to discuss the effort at a briefing this afternoon.

Federal leaders have seen an increase in pressure to make this declaration after health officials in New York, California, and Illinois made similar decisions. Additionally, last month the World Health Organization’s director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus parted with a panel of advisors in order to declare monkeypox an official global concern.

More than 6,600 monkeypox cases have been confirmed in the United States thus far, with more assumed to be unrecorded due to a lack of testing accessibility. The virus is believed to be less of a risk than Covid-19, with no resulting deaths in the United States, however, symptoms can include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and often painful lesions.

Biden officials have argued that labeling monkeypox a public health emergency will allow for greater awareness of the virus and ultimately, aid the U.S. response.

In May, Biden warned reporters about the increasing case count of monkeypox in the United States, saying that it is something everyone should be concerned about. The President made no mention of declaring a public health emergency at the time but noted that the White House was looking into possible treatment options.