The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the organization is working in partnership with scientists to change the name of monkeypox due to racism and stigma regarding monkeypox, which is a “discriminatory” name of the virus.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Tuesday morning that the WHO is “working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades [strains] and the disease it causes.”
Mr. Ghebreyesus stated that the WHO would announce those new titles as quickly as possible.
The announcement came just a few days when more than 30 scientists from all over the world published a position statement declaring that they had an “urgent need” for a “non-discriminatory and non-stigmatizing nomenclature for monkeypox virus.”
Currently, the WHO lists two strains called “clades” of the monkeypox virus on its website, including the West African clade and the Congo Basin (Central African) Clade.
However, just like other geographic classifications of infections based on areas of first discovery, these labels aren’t always accurate. They can be misleading as per the team of scientists from Africa and worldwide.
In their plan, they suggested a unique classification for monkeypox, which is consistent with the best practice for identification of infectious diseases in a manner to “minimizes unnecessary negative impacts on nations, geographic regions, economies, and people and that considers the evolution and spread of the virus.”
On Tuesday, June 22, Mr. Ghebreyesus stated that he had decided to call an emergency meeting on June 23 as the virus has displayed “unusual” recent behavior by spreading to countries far from parts of Africa it is prevalent.
“We believe it also needs some coordinated response because of the geographic spread,” he told reporters.
More than 1,600 cases and more than 1500 suspected cases were reported in this year’s 39 countries, including seven in which it has been known for a long time.
The number of deaths has reached 72. were reported. However, none are in newly affected countries, including Britain, Canada, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United States.