WHO proposes to change the way it calls ‘British and Indian strains’ to avoid stigma

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the naming of SARS-CoV-2 virus strains based on the Greek alphabet, instead of the naming of the first detected country.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Photo: Reuters As suggested by WHO, the COVID-19 mutation is called “British strain” or B.1.1.7 should be called “Alpha”, while the common mutant strain in South Africa is renamed “Beta” . The two Brazilian strains, called P.1 and P.2, became Gamma and Zeta, respectively, while the two subtypes of the “Indian variant”, B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2, were called “Kappa” and “Delta”. Two other strains, first reported by the US in March of this year, were assigned the most difficult names to remember, “Epsilon” and “Iota”. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s COVID-19 expert team, stressed that the new names will not replace the scientific name of the strain, because the scientific name is a complex combination of letters and numbers. Instead, the new name will make it easier for people to name variables in public discussions. At the same time, this will help remove the stigma against the country that first discovered the mutation. “No country should be discriminated against for detecting and reporting mutations,” and Van Kerkhove said. WHO List of VOCs of concern. List of Variants of Interest (VOI). In which, the first column is the new name proposed by WHO. The WHO’s new move comes in the context of India’s growing anger when the media calls the B.1.617 virus strain an “Indian variant”. India’s Health Ministry argued last month that the name freely used in the media was “misleading” because it was not a name designated by the WHO. Earlier, in February, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, then co-chair of South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19, told CNN in an interview to stop calling the virus spreading. in his country is the “South African variant.” Instead, call it by its scientific name: 501Y.V2. The politically correct idea of ​​WHO is supported by many countries. But it also confuses many people. Some observers argue that Greek letters are actually not that easy to remember. While others point out that the WHO is in danger of “running out of names” at some point, since the Greek alphabet has only 24 letters.