The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday announced it will be renaming monkeypox to avoid discrimination and stigmatisation against specific regions.
The WHO's director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says its “working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes.”
He said the WHO will make announcements about the new name "as soon as possible".
It comes after a group of leading scientists last week sent a letter urging the change take place.
“In the context of the current global outbreak, continued reference to, and nomenclature of this virus being African is not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatising,” the group wrote.
Experts are set to decide on June 23 whether the outbreak is declared a public health emergency of international concern. (Source: Breakfast)
Earlier on Tuesday, the WHO announced it will be holding an emergency meeting to determine if the expanding monkeypox outbreak should be considered a global health emergency.
READ MORE: Monkeypox: WHO to decide if outbreak is global health emergency
There have been more than 1500 confirmed cases worldwide in the recent outbreak, with the UK accounting for a third of them.
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