Rename monkeypox as Poxy McPoxface or Trump-22? WHO vows ‘nothing ridiculous’ as it seeks public ideas
- Academics, doctors, an activist and others have submitted suggestions raging from the technical to the farcical
- Critics say the disease’s current name is misleading – since monkeys were not the original host – and can be used in a racist way
Poxy McPoxface, Trump-22 or Mpox: these some of the ideas sent in by the public to the World Health Organization as it seeks a new name for monkeypox.
Often disease names are chosen behind closed doors by a technical committee, but the WHO has this time decided to open up the process to the public. After a slow start, dozens of submissions have now been made from a range of contributors including academics, doctors and a gay community activist.
They range from the technical (Opoxi-22, submitted by Harvard Medical School emergency doctor Jeremy Faust) to the farcical (Poxy McPoxface, submitted by Andrew Yi in an allusion to Boaty McBoatface – almost the name of a British polar research vessel after a public vote on the choice).
Pressure is growing for a new name for the disease, in part because critics say it is misleading, since monkeys are not the original animal host. A group of leading scientists wrote a position paper in June calling for a name that was “neutral, non-discriminatory and non-stigmatising” amid fears the name can be used in a racist way.
Until this year, monkeypox has mainly spread only in a group of countries in West and Central Africa.
“It’s very important we find a new name for monkeypox because this is best practice not to create any offence to an ethical group, a region, a country, an animal, etc,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said on Tuesday.