By Agency Report
World Health Organisation, WHO, is planning to officially rename Monkeypox following concerns about stigma and racism surrounding the virus that has infected almost 1,300 people in more than two dozen countries.
Spokesperson of more than 30 International Scientists said last week that the Monkeypox label was discriminatory and stigmatizing, and there is an “urgent” need to rename it adding that the current name does not fit with WHO guidelines that recommend avoiding geographic regions and animal names.
The proposal echoes a similar controversy that erupted when the WHO moved quickly to rename Sars-coV-2 after people around the world referred to it as the China or Wuhan virus in the absence of an official designation.
The actual animal source of Monkeypox, which has been found in a wide variety of mammals, remains unknown.
“In the context of the current global outbreak, continued reference to, and nomenclature of this virus being African is not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatizing,” the Scientists’ group said.
Meanwhile, WHO is consulting experts in orthopoxviruses – the family to which Monkeypox belongs – on more appropriate names.
