According to persons with knowledge of the topic who spoke to Politico, the World Health Organization (WHO) intends to rebrand monkeypox as ‘MPOX’. An announcement about the matter might be made as soon as Friday, according to the US news source. The action is being made to de-stigmatize the virus that was discovered earlier this year and reported in more than 70 nations.
It is supposed to be a reaction to mounting pressure from the Biden administration, which is alleged to have informally urged the WHO representatives to modify the name. According to rumours, the US forewarned that if the WHO disregarded their advice, it may take unilateral action.
According to the newspaper, the Biden administration had long held the opinion that the name of the virus was contributing to increased stigma, particularly among people of color, and slowing the vaccination campaign. Campaigns demanding a name change for the virus were led by public health professionals and LGBT activists. They contended that calling it monkeypox is inaccurate, reinforces pre-existing racist stereotypes about Africa, and is harmful to the global response.
In a joint statement released in June, a group of scientists argued that continuing to refer to and label this virus as African is not only inaccurate but also prejudiced and stigmatising given the current global outbreak. 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 over the world. According to the US Center 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. US had nearly 30,000 infections recorded.
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