Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus
En un momento que recuerda a la humanidad cuán porosas son sus fronteras ante la enfermedad, la Organización Mundial de la Salud declaró el sábado la viruela del mono como emergencia sanitaria internacional, la séptima vez que se activa esta alarma desde 2005. Con 16,000 casos en 75 países y un virus que avanza con mayor fuerza en territorios donde nunca había circulado, la decisión del director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus no fue solo epidemiológica: fue también un llamado a recordar que las crisis de salud se agravan cuando el miedo reemplaza a la solidaridad. El mundo ha estado aquí antes, y sabe que la respuesta importa tanto como el patógeno.
- La viruela del mono se ha extendido a 75 países con 16,000 casos en semanas, una velocidad que convenció al director de la OMS de actuar incluso sin consenso pleno de su comité de expertos.
- Europa, sin experiencia histórica con la enfermedad, concentra el 80% de los casos y enfrenta el nivel de riesgo más alto del planeta.
- La OMS activa su herramienta de alerta máxima —usada solo seis veces antes, desde el H1N1 hasta el COVID-19— para exigir a los países más vigilancia, más pruebas y más preparación.
- La transmisión se concentra especialmente entre hombres que tienen sexo con hombres con múltiples parejas, lo que obliga a focalizar la respuesta sin caer en la estigmatización.
- Tedros advierte que el estigma y la discriminación pueden convertir una crisis médica en una crisis social, y que proteger la dignidad de las comunidades afectadas es parte inseparable del combate al brote.
El sábado, la Organización Mundial de la Salud formalizó lo que las cifras venían anunciando: la viruela del mono es ahora una emergencia sanitaria de alcance internacional. Los casos habían llegado a cerca de 16,000 en 75 países, con cinco muertes registradas. Lo más alarmante no era solo el número, sino la geografía: el virus se había instalado con fuerza en regiones donde nunca antes había circulado, sobre todo en Europa, que concentra cuatro de cada cinco casos en el mundo.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus anunció la decisión dos días después de que un comité de emergencia se reuniera a deliberar, sin llegar a un acuerdo unánime. En junio, con apenas 3,000 casos, ese mismo grupo había optado por no elevar la alarma. Pero la velocidad de propagación cambió el cálculo. Tedros decidió actuar, señalando que la rapidez con que el virus cruzaba fronteras hacia territorios sin inmunidad previa era el factor determinante.
La declaración es la séptima de su tipo desde 2005 y la primera desde el COVID-19. Su propósito es concreto: instar a los sistemas de salud nacionales a reforzar la vigilancia, ampliar las pruebas y preparar sus defensas. Europa enfrenta el nivel de riesgo más alto; el resto del mundo, incluida África —donde el virus lleva décadas circulando entre humanos y animales— se sitúa en riesgo moderado.
El brote no se distribuye de manera uniforme. Se concentra especialmente entre hombres que tienen sexo con hombres con múltiples parejas. Tedros lo señaló con claridad, no para señalar con el dedo, sino para orientar la respuesta hacia donde más se necesita. Y fue más lejos: advirtió que el estigma y la discriminación son tan peligrosos como el propio virus. Las lecciones del VIH y del COVID-19 lo demuestran. Cuando el miedo reemplaza a la información y la solidaridad, una crisis médica se convierte también en una crisis de derechos. Esa deriva, dijo, no es inevitable. Es una elección.
On Saturday, the World Health Organization made official what had been building for weeks: monkeypox was now a global health emergency. The declaration came as cases had climbed to roughly 16,000 across 75 countries, with five deaths recorded. The virus had crossed into territories where it had never taken root before—most strikingly across Europe, where health systems had no historical experience with the disease and where it now accounted for four out of every five cases worldwide.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO's director general, announced the decision at a press conference two days after an emergency committee of specialists had convened to weigh the question. The committee itself had not reached full agreement on the declaration. In June, when cases numbered around 3,000, the same group had decided against raising the alarm. But the trajectory had shifted dramatically. The virus was moving fast through populations that had never encountered it. Tedros made the call to escalate, citing the speed of transmission across new territories as the decisive factor.
The emergency declaration carries real weight. It signals to national health systems worldwide that they need to strengthen their defenses—more testing, more surveillance, more preparation. It's a tool the WHO has deployed only six times before: for the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, for Ebola twice (in 2014 and 2018), for polio in 2014, for Zika in 2017, and for COVID-19 in 2020, a status that remains active.
What made this outbreak distinctive was its geography and its pattern. Europe had been hit hardest, with risk levels rated as high across the continent. The rest of the world—including Africa, where monkeypox had circulated among human and animal populations for decades—remained at moderate risk. The virus was not spreading evenly. It was concentrating heavily among men who have sex with men, particularly those with multiple partners. Tedros named this directly, not to stigmatize but to target the response where it was needed most.
He also issued a warning that cut deeper than epidemiology. The real danger, he said, lay not only in the virus itself but in how societies might respond to it. Stigma and discrimination posed risks as serious as any pathogen. The affected communities needed information, support, and protection of their dignity and human rights. The lesson from past outbreaks—from HIV to COVID-19—was that fear and blame could turn a medical crisis into a social one. That was not inevitable. It was a choice.
Citas Notables
The virus is transmitting rapidly in many countries where there were no cases before— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General
Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did the WHO wait until 16,000 cases to declare this an emergency? They had a committee meeting in June.
The committee didn't see consensus then. At 3,000 cases, it looked like it might be contained. But the virus kept moving into new countries where it had never been. By July, the pattern had changed—it wasn't slowing down, it was accelerating into places with no immunity.
So it's the speed that triggered it, not the absolute number?
Partly. But also the geography. Europe went from zero cases to 80 percent of the global total in weeks. That's what alarmed them. A virus that was supposed to stay in Central Africa suddenly everywhere else.
Tedros mentioned men who have sex with men specifically. Why name that?
Because that's where the transmission was happening. You can't design a response if you won't say where the problem is. But he was careful—he said it needed to come with support and information, not blame. He knew the history.
What history?
Every time a disease gets tied to a particular group, that group gets hurt. The stigma becomes part of the outbreak. He was trying to prevent that from happening again.
Is this declaration going to change anything on the ground?
It should. It tells every country's health ministry they need to act now—test more, prepare more, coordinate more. It's not just a warning. It's a directive.