WHO has called for stricter rules when it comes to naming diseases to avoid stigma

The World Health Organization (WHO) has decided there need to be stricter guidelines enforced for researchers, health officials and the media when it comes to naming and referring to new diseases or conditions.

Certain names, specifically ones that include people, places and animals, can be offensive or create stigma. The WHO recommends disease labels be as simple as possible and primarily descriptive of symptoms.

“This may seem like a trivial issue to some, but disease names really do matter to the people who are directly affected,” stated Dr. Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director-General for Health Security at the World Health Organization, according to Medical News Today.

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Some examples of names that have created stigma in the past include “Middle East respiratory syndrome,” “German measles” or “Spanish flu.” Even diseases like “swine flu” and “monkey pox” can end up leading to unnecessary slaughtering or cruelty toward animals, and the names aren’t even necessarily accurate when it comes to how the diseases are transmitted.

As Science Insider pointed out:

Badly chosen names can stigmatize people, as did gay-related immune deficiency, an early name for AIDS. They can also lead to confusion and hurt tourism and trade. The so-called swine flu, for instance, is not transmitted by pigs, but some countries still banned pork imports or slaughtered pigs after a 2009 outbreak.

The WHO also has said it’s important not to use descriptors that induce too much fear, like “fatal” and “unknown.” And instead of using such specific regions or places, options like “subterranean,” “desert,” “ocean,” or “coastal” are better.