Renaming mpox in Spanish, French, and Portuguese: using language to address stigma and racism

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Renaming mpox in Spanish, French, and Portuguese: using language to address stigma and racism

Jaime García-Iglesiasa jgarcia6@ed.ac.uk ∙ Angélica Cabezas-Pinob ∙ Francisco Javier Membrillo de Novalesc ∙ Axel Rodrigo Bautista Pérezd ∙ Jorge Garrido Fuentese ∙ Fernando Villaamil Pérezf ∙ et al.

The persistence of stigmatising and racially charged terms for mpox in non-English languages necessitates an urgent change to more neutral terminology. The mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) outbreak in May, 2022, disproportionately affected gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, as well as African, American, and Hispanic communities in high-income countries.1,2 This exacerbated disinformation and hate speech, especially on social media, displaying homophobic, racist, and stigmatising rhetoric.3 In response, WHO recommended renaming monkeypox to mpox in English, with suggestions for other languages. However, unclear guidance has led to inconsistent translations across non-English speaking regions.4

At present, in the context of a second outbreak and Public Health Emergency of International Concern due to the rise in cases of clade Ib in several African countries, there coexist in Spanish, French, and Portuguese several nomenclatures for mpox: viruela del mono (monkeypox) or viruela símica (simian pox) in Spanish; variole de singue (monkeypox) or variole simienne (simian pox) in French; and variola dos macacos (monkeypox) or the WHO-suggested variola M (mpox) in Portuguese.

This nomenclature suggests that mpox, as a term, has failed to be consistently adopted in other languages and shows a heterogeneous landscape of terminology with profound racist connotations. In Spanish, French, and Portuguese the words mono (in Spanish) and macaco (in Spanish and Portuguese) or simio (in Spanish) and simienne (in French) are often used derogatorily to refer to people of African descent or, in some countries in Latin America, people of Indigenous origin.5 The persistence of racially charged terms not only perpetuates harmful stereotypes but also undermines efforts to protect the most vulnerable communities. These terms hamper efforts to communicate information effectively by fuelling stigmatising narratives of fear and discrimination, which render collaborations less effective from the outset. The use of language plays a pivotal role in the context of public health, often either helping to bridge the gap between the medical community, policy makers, and the public, or widening the gap further.

Recognising that diseases are not only biological realities, but also linguistic and social constructs, is of paramount importance. The names assigned to diseases carry material implications, influencing public perception, access to health care, and allocation of resources.6 The history of diseases such as HIV (initially referred to as gay-related immune deficiency, and associated with constructions of promiscuity and racism) or COVID-19 (derogatorily referred to as the China virus) should serve as a warning sign to act: the stigmatising connotations of those terms had tangible impacts on communities and policy that have endured to present day.7,8 In the context of mpox, the persistence of these terms in Spanish, French, and Portuguese fuels harmful stereotypes and exacerbates social and global health inequalities.

For these reasons, we urge global health leaders to adopt viruela M in Spanish, variola M in Portuguese, and variole M in French contexts. Changing the terminology we use is not merely a semantic change, but an essential step towards dismantling the racist and homophobic narratives that hinder public health efforts. These strategies should engage and involve affected communities, communicators, social media platforms, governments, and educators. Furthermore, any action on terminology should be coordinated with actions to address material inequalities in global health, ensuring that affected communities have access to adequate diagnostics, vaccines, treatment, and health care. True success will depend on community engagement, stakeholder collaboration, and addressing broader health inequities.

JG-I declares funding support from the Economic and Social Research Council (grant numbers ES/W002426/1 and ES/X003604/1). All other authors declare no competing interests.

The Lancet

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