“Following a series of consultations with global experts, WHO will begin using a new preferred term ‘mpox’ as a synonym for monkeypox. Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while ‘monkeypox’ is phased out. When the outbreak of monkeypox expanded earlier this year, racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings and in some communities was observed and reported to WHO. In several meetings, public and private, a number of individuals and countries raised concerns and asked WHO to propose a way forward to change the name,” says the WHO.
This is so friggin lame. Not as lame as the time they skipped “Xi” in the Greek alphabet when naming the Omicron variant of COVID. But watch as the right wing go apeshit (oops) over this “woke” decision making by the top global health authority. We’re not saying they don’t mean well or that the name isn’t problematic. It is. However, it’s the kind of thing that will generate “controversy” which will drive MAGAmericans to take public health directives less seriously than they already do. The word “monkeypox” is already tattooed on people’s brains and “phasing it out” won’t mean shit. How about just focus on eradicating it instead of eradicating the current name?