Senior Biden officials have been privately lobbying the WHO to rename monkeypox for months because the original ‘is racist’, sources say
- Officials believe monkeypox carries an unnecessary stigma for people of color
- They have been worrying about the name ‘for months’, it was reported
- United States is now on top of its monkeypox outbreak after the summer surge
The Biden administration has asked global health officials to rename monkeypox ‘MPOX’ because the current name is racist, according to reports.
Senior White House officials are said to have been privately lobbying the World Health Organization over the change, and even threatened to change the name in the US without the agency’s blessing if it did not move quickly enough.
Monkeypox caused a global outbreak for the first time ever this year — infecting 30,000 Americans and killing 14 — but the virus has been triggering flare-ups in Africa for decades.
Biden staffers believe the original term outbreak carries an unnecessary stigma for people of color.
The WHO promised to re-consider the name in June over similar fears of stigmatization and a decision is expected within weeks.
There have been concerns over potential racist undertones of the name since the outbreak began this summer.
It comes after a study found monkeypox patients can spread the virus up to four days before symptoms appear, raising questions over current strategies to contain the infection.
The Biden administration is lobbying the World Health Organization to change the name of monkeypox. Pictured above is Biden in the White House Roosevelt Room in August this year
US was recording about 500 monkeypox cases a day in July. But this has now dropped to less than 13 amid rising awareness and a rapid vaccination drive
According to Politico, Biden staff were concerned the name ‘monkeypox’ was putting some Americans off getting vaccinated.
In August, more than 30 scientists wrote to the WHO saying ‘continued reference to, and nomenclature of this virus being African is not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatizing’.
They added: ‘The most obvious manifestation of this is the use of photos of African patients to depict the pox lesions in mainstream media in the global north.’
The WHO has been considering a number of new names, including ‘MPOX’, ‘Mpox’ and ‘orthopox “something” ‘.
In August the WHO renamed the two dominant variants of the virus, to Clade I and Clade II. Beforehand, they were called the Central African and Congo Basin clades.
Monkeypox was named in 1958 after it was identified in monkeys imported to Europe from Africa.
Some experts say the term evokes racist stereotypes and reinforces offensive views about Africa.
The US now has a handle on the outbreak, with about 13 cases being reported every day on average. At the peak in July there were more than 400 cases a day.
