The World Health Organization has said it will rename monkeypox to avoid discrimination and stigmatisation as the virus continues to spread among people in an unprecedented global outbreak of the disease.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general, said the organisation was “working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of the monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes”.
The move comes after scientists called for an “urgent” change to the name which they described as “inaccurate”, “discriminatory” and “stigmatising” in a report released last week. An announcement on the new name would be made “as soon as possible”, said Tedros.
Similar concerns were raised at the height of the coronavirus pandemic when new Covid variants were named after the countries or regions where they were first detected, leading to travel bans and other restrictions. In response, the WHO brought in a naming system that referred to new variants as letters of the Greek alphabet. Scientists warn of “an increasing narrative in the media and among many scientists that are trying to link the present global outbreak to Africa or west Africa, or Nigeria”.
Credit: theguardian.com
