According to people familiar with the situation, the World Health Organization (WHO) intends to rename monkeypox as “MPOX.”
A decision on the matter would reportedly be announced as soon as Friday, according to the United States news outlet. Action is being taken to de-stigmatize the virus, which was discovered earlier this year and reported in more than 70 countries.
LGBT activists and public health professionals urged WHO to change the name of the virus
The Joe Biden administration is said to have privately urged the WHO officials to change the name in response to mounting pressure. The US allegedly threatened to take unilateral action if the World Health Organization ignored their advice.
The Biden administration feared for months that the name of the virus was an intensifying stigma, particularly among people of color, and slowed down the vaccination effort, according to the newspaper. Campaigns to change the name of the virus were led by LGBT activists and public health professionals. They contended that calling it monkeypox perpetuates racial prejudices about Africa and is harmful to the global response.
“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,” a group of scientists wrote in a joint statement published in June.
Monkeypox is endemic in a number of western and central African nations
A common viral disease called monkeypox is endemic in a number of western and central African nations. But earlier this year, it was covered by media all around the world. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 80,000 cases of the disease worldwide, most of which are caused by same-sex relationships. The US had nearly 30,000 infections recorded.
