Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said on Friday that there are currently no plans to declare monkeypox a public health emergency; while the World Health Organization and the United States have recently done so.

Tam added - in a statement today - that there is no significant benefit to declaring a federal public health emergency in Canada due to the structure of provincial public health authorities.
 

She pointed out that a federal emergency declaration would include the Emergencies Act - which was not even used to address the two-and-a-half-year COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.
 

She explained that so far, Canada has already managed to mobilize vaccines, treatments, and funding to combat monkeypox.
 

Tam also said that local and provincial authorities have greater flexibility and have been able to respond to the rise in monkeypox cases, and local and provincial authorities can decide to declare the virus a public health emergency at those levels, as many did with COVID-19.
 

She continued: "So far, our discussions have focused on testing, working with community organizations to raise awareness about ways to reduce virus spread, and deploying vaccines and treatments. Since the global monkeypox outbreak remains a serious concern, with efforts focused on affected communities in Canada and worldwide, including vaccines, we have an opportunity to contain the spread."
 

Tam noted that nearly 31,000 monkeypox cases have been reported worldwide, including 1,059 cases in Canada, most of them in Ontario.
 

So far, there have been 28 hospitalizations – two in intensive care – from monkeypox in Canada, and no deaths have occurred.
 

Tam said it is too early to know whether the rise in cases has stopped in Canada.