The World Health Organization has announced it will start using a new term - "mpox" - as a synonym for monkeypox and urged others to follow suit after backlash that the disease's current name is racist and stigmatizing.

Both names will be used simultaneously for a period of one year, and the term 'monkey pox' will be abolished, the WHO said.

At the beginning of the year, the organization launched a public consultation to find a new name for the disease.

One of the most popular suggestions was the name "mpox" or "Mpox", proposed by the men's health organization REZO. Its director said removing photos of monkeys helped people take the health emergency seriously.

Monkeypox was discovered in 1958 and was named after the first animals - monkeys - to show symptoms. Until this year, they were mostly spread in the countries of West and Central Africa. However, since the beginning of the year, according to WHO data, 110 countries in the world have reported about 80.000 cases of the disease and 55 deaths.