This decision was made after a series of consultations with global experts.
Both terms will be used simultaneously for a year before the name chickenpox is phased out.
“This helps mitigate experts’ concerns about confusion caused by name changes amid a global outbreak,” the UN agency said. speak in a statement.
Care and change
Mpox is a rare viral disease that mainly occurs in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa, but outbreaks have broken out in other parts of the world this year.
There are more than 80,000 cases and 55 deaths, with 110 countries affected.
As the current outbreak spreads, WHO both have observed and received reports of racist and discriminatory language online, in other settings, and in some communities.
“In a number of meetings, both public and private, a number of individuals and countries have expressed concerns and asked WHO to propose a resolution to change the name,” the agency said.
Naming new diseases
The name monkeypox was given in 1970, about 12 years after the virus that caused the disease was discovered in captive monkeys.
This was before WHO first published disease naming best practices in 2015.
These guidelines recommend that new disease names should aim to minimize unnecessary negative impacts on trade, tourism, tourism or animal welfare.
They should also avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, occupational, or ethnic group.
Counseling process
WHO assigns names to new and especially existing diseases through a consultation process.
Medical and scientific experts, representatives of government agencies from 45 countries, as well as the public, were invited to submit their proposals.
Based on consultations and further discussions with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the agency recommended the adoption of the synonym mpox.
Considerations include rationale, scientific relevance, current usage, pronunciation, usability in different languages, no geographical or animal references learn and easily access historical scientific information.
WHO will apply the term mpox in its communications and encourage others to follow suit.
