Need to prevent stigma associated with monkeypox, call it human pox instead: Expert

President of the AIDS Society of India Dr Ishwar Gilada has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the infection should be called human pox, instead of monkeypox. “We should take steps to prevent stigma and discrimination of infected people,” he told The Indian Express. Dr Gilada is also the secretary general of Organised Medicine Academic Guild (OMAG), an umbrella organisation of professional medical associations of post-graduate doctors.

While thanking the World Health Organization (WHO) and its Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus for declaring monkeypox as a Global Health Emergency of International Concern (GHEIC), OMAG feels that the WHO should describe the current outbreak in proper perspectives based on science, reality and logic. WHO has done the right thing finally on the first count, Dr Gilada said.

“Now WHO should change nomenclature, drop the monkeypox name as it is no more spread from monkeys. In that sense, it is a misnomer. To reduce stigma and discrimination against patients and their families, it is a must to call it something like human pox,” he has said in a letter to PM Modi.

With over 17,000 cases of the virus reported in more than 70 countries, the current outbreaks suggest it is essentially a sexually transmitted infection, Dr Gilada said. He has urged WHO to declare it as a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI), as currently 100% of the cases are transmitted sexually. “There is a need to ensure that patients are not subjected to stigma and discrimination, and have a mechanism in place so that their human rights are not violated,” he said. Experts have also called for starting production of the smallpox vaccine.

The WHO has, in a statement, urged countries to work closely with communities of men who have sex with men to design and deliver effective information and services and adopt measures that protect the health, human rights and dignity of affected communities. Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus, the WHO has said. It has also urged civil society organisations, including those with experience in working with people living with HIV, to work with health agencies to fight the stigma.