WHO to rename monkeypox to avoid discrimination and stigmatization

rename monkeypox, after some critics raised concerns the name could be considered discriminatory and stigmatizing.WHO said the decision was made after meeting with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which helps identify best practices for naming new human diseases to "avoid causing offense to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional, or ethnic groups, and minimize any negative impact on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare."In a statement Friday, the U.N.

health agency said it has also renamed two families, or clades, of the virus, using Roman numerals instead of geographic areas, to avoid stigmatization. MONKEYPOX: WHAT YOU MUST KNOW AOBUT THE VIRUS – AND HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELFThe version of the disease formerly known as the Congo Basin will now be known as Clade one or I and the West Africa clade will be known as Clade two or II.WHO said that the new names for the clades will take effect immediately while a new name for the disease and virus will be worked on.

The WHO said that anyone who wishes to submit a name suggestion can do so on their website. The decision comes after a group of scientists in June proposed an "urgent" name change, calling the current name "discriminatory and stigmatizing."The new name, they proposed, would minimize the "negative impacts on nations, geographic regions, economies and people and that considers the evolution and spread of the virus."Massachusetts reported a case of monkeypox in a man who recently traveled to Canada on May 18, 2022.