The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is working with experts to officially change the name of the monkey’s smallpox amid concerns about stigma and racism surrounding the virus’s “discriminatory” name.
Key points:
- WHO says it will change its name to “monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes”
- Last week, more than 30 scientists alerted health officials to the need for a name that was neither discriminatory nor stigmatizing.
- The WHO director-general made the announcement during an emergency committee meeting following recent “unusual” behavior by the virus.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Tuesday morning that the organization was “working with partners and experts from around the world to change the name of the monkeypox virus, its clades”. [strains] and the disease it causes. “
Mr Ghebreyesus said the WHO would make announcements about the new names as soon as possible.
The decision comes less than a week after more than 30 international scientists wrote in a position paper that there was an “urgent need” for a “non-discriminatory and non-stigmatizing nomenclature for the monkeypox virus.”
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The WHO currently lists two strains, or “clades,” of the monkeypox virus on its website: the West African clade and the Congo Basin (Central Africa) clade.
However, like many previous geographic labels of infectious diseases based on first detection sites, this can be misleading and inaccurate, according to the group of scientists in Africa and around the world.
In their proposal, they proposed a new classification of monkeypox that aligns with best practices in the designation of infectious diseases, in a way that “minimizes unnecessary negative impacts on nations, geographic regions, economies and people and to take into account the evolution and spread of the virus. ” “.
More than 1,600 cases of the virus have been reported in 39 countries this year. (Reuters: Dado Ruvic / Illustration)
On Tuesday, Mr Ghebreyesus said he decided to convene an emergency committee on June 23 because the virus has shown recent “unusual” behavior as it spreads to countries far beyond parts of Africa where it is endemic.
“We believe it also needs a coordinated response due to geographical dispersion,” he told reporters.
More than 1,600 cases and nearly 1,500 suspected cases have been reported in 39 countries this year, including seven nations where the virus has been reported for years.
A total of 72 deaths have been reported, but none have occurred in recently affected countries, including Britain, Canada, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United States.
ABC / AP