We Created the Pandemicene
AtlanticJUN 2022
The Mpox Global Public Health Emergency
Above: Social mobilizers and health professionals put up a banner to raise awareness about mpox ahead of the vaccination campaign launch at Goma General Hospital on October 5, 2024. Image copyright: Aubin Mukoni/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The WHO has stepped up and led the global response to mpox efficiently and promptly. The global community can now build off of the lessons learned from COVID, utilizing familiar tools such as testing, contact tracing, quarantine, and vaccines. With a focus on protecting the most vulnerable, governments worldwide should be equipped with the systems and processes needed to manage this new case of zoonotic spillover on the global stage.
Establishment-critical narrative
The struggle to contain mpox isn't new, but the lackadaisical response by the WHO, particularly for African countries, is disgraceful. The delay in declaring the virus a global public health emergency hindered the allocation of critical resources. Alongside the shortage of testing kits, vaccine distribution has been challenging. As with COVID, there remains an inequitable distribution of mpox vaccines, deepening the divide between the haves and the have-nots in public health.
Narrative C
Public health authorities and much of the media, in trying to avoid stigma, downplayed that up to 98% of mpox cases occurred among men who have sex with men — especially those with multiple partners or attending group-sex venues — obscuring data needed for targeted testing, vaccination, and treatment. Sensational headlines framing mpox as a “gay disease” only reinforced homophobic tropes, driving shame and discouraging care. Echoing the early AIDS crisis, this refusal to name who was most at risk eroded trust and blunted the effectiveness of the entire response.
Narrative D
The spread of mpox is yet another indicator of humanity's arrival at the "Pandemicene" era. From climate change and deforestation to exploitative food production systems and supply chains that harm both animals and vulnerable communities, the conditions for zoonotic spillover events are more widespread than ever. The global pandemic health preparedness and response system must be urgently updated and strengthened.