The video is from May 2023.
A video circulating on Facebook suggests that World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus announced that Mpox is no longer considered a public health emergency, just days after declaring it one. This claim is FALSE.
The post accompanying the video, dated 26 August 2024, states, “🚨🌎 “I’m Pleased to declare that Money Pox is NO longer a Global Health Emergency. After only just declaring a Global Health Emergency – The WHO Director General Tedros – has reversed that decision.”
In the video, Tedros is seen stating that the emergency committee for mpox advised that the multi-country outbreak no longer meets the criteria for a public health emergency of international concern, and he accepted their recommendation.
On 14 August 2024, WHO declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern, as reported here, here and here.
But does the video in question accurately reflect this recent development?
To verify the video’s credibility, Mtoto News performed a keyword search that led to the original footage on WHO’s YouTube channel, posted on 15 May 2023. In that video, Tedros declared that mpox was no longer a global public health emergency. He is wearing the same outfit in both videos, and the statements in question appear between 0:36 and 0:58 of the 1:29-minute-long clip.
This confirms that the video is outdated and unrelated to the current situation in August 2024.
WHO initially declared mpox a global public health emergency on 23 July 2022 and later rescinded this status during a press briefing on 11 May 2023.
Mtoto News reviewed the video on Facebook that claims WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus lifted the mpox global emergency declaration shortly after announcing it and found the claim to be FALSE.
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