Monkeypox renamed mpox after stigma uproar

AFTER a huge uproar regarding the racial and stigmatising language online surrounding the name “monkeypox”, the World Health Organization (WHO), after consulting global experts, will begin using a new name for the disease, mpox.

WHO said that in several meetings, both public and private, a number of individuals and countries raised concerns and asked WHO to propose a way forward to change the name.

“Assigning names to new and, very exceptionally, to existing diseases is the responsibility of WHO under the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the WHO Family of International Health Related Classifications through a consultative process which includes WHO member states,” said a statement from WHO.

The organisation said that in accordance with the ICD update process, they held consultations to gather views from a range of experts, as well as from countries and the general public, who were invited to submit suggestions for new names.

According to the statement, after consultations and discussions, WHO recommended the adoption of the new synonym mpox in English for the disease.

Mpox will become the preferred term, replacing monkeypox, after a transition period of one year.

“This serves to mitigate the concerns raised by experts about confusion caused by a name change in the midst of a global outbreak.

“It also gives time to complete the ICD update process and to update WHO publications,“said the statement.

Another recommendation was that the synonym mpox would be included in the ICD-10 online in the coming days.

It will be part of the official 2023 release of ICD-11, which is the current global standard for health data, clinical documentation, and statistical aggregation, and the term “monkeypox” will remain a searchable term in ICD to match historic information.

“WHO will adopt the term mpox in its communications and encourages others to follow these recommendations to minimise any ongoing negative impact of the current name and from the adoption of the new name,” said the organisation.