NO MONKEY POX IN PNG|NDoH SURVEILLANCE & EMERGENCY RESPONSE

By Vonu LIBITINO

THE National Department of Health (NDoH), Program Manager for Surveillance & Emergency Response, backed the NDoH Secretary’s statement, that there is no monkey pox in Papua New Guinea.

Mr. Berry Ropa said this in response to a widespread warning on social media, of the arrival of monkeypox in PNG.

He confirmed that there are no monkey pox cases in PNG; meaning there are no laboratory confirmed cases as well as no suspected cases.

“When you have suspect case under investigation, we say there is no confirmed cases, as it is still under investigation,” Mr. Ropa said.

He explained that monkey pox is endemic in West Africa and not pandemic.

“If we have a case of an unusual disease in PNG and it is only [present] in PNG, it does not get declared as a global health emergency.

Unless we [pass] it to other countries and there is transmission in that country, that is when the Director General of the World Health Organization, will declare it as an emergency public health concern,” he said.

Mr. Ropa said they are still learning about monkeypox, after initial outbreak that was concentrated mainly in Africa in 2022.

“It is now tripling in other countries, including USA and is now declared a public health emergency, to warn other countries that there is a potential to spread, and we must take steps to do surveillance work and inform our workforce [to] be ready for it,” Mr Ropa urged.

He said for health workers, through their provincial health authorities, they are routinely advised not be vehicles for false information.

Mr. Ropa said they do not have the mechanism to control the spread of false information on social media however people should pay mind of information that comes from the NDoH.

“We try to put out news from the secretary’s office, authorized by him, on a weekly basis, so update on what current situations is,” Mr. Ropa said.

Picture Courtesy: World Health Organization.