Health workers sit at a check-in table at a pop-up monkeypox vaccination clinic which opened today ... [+]
A leading monkeypox expert has spoken about the need to change the way we talk about who it's affecting in the outbreak in the Global North.
Dr. Chloe Orkin, who has led some of the worlds most important monkeypox research in the last few months, say we need to add in the phrase "sexually active" when talking about gay, bi and men who have sex with men who are at risk of the virus.
"There is a delicate balance in directing a public health intervention at a group at high risk without stigmatising them," Orkin told the What The Pox? podcast.
"It's dangerous to say things like, 'anybody can get monkeypox, it's not a gay disease, it's not an African disease' because, although that's true, we must also say: 'But it is happening in sexually active gay and bi men's sexual networks.'”
"We've got to keep saying ‘sexually active.’ It's not happening in the gay male community; it's happening in the sexually active gay male community."
"We need to provide public health interventions for the community at highest risk."
To summarise, Orkin is advocating for adding the words “‘sexually active” before “gay, bi, and queer men who have sex with men.” It's so we can find the crucial balance between getting information about monkeypox to those who need it most, without stigmatising the LGBTQ community.
Orkin also spoke about how she'd seen the same levels of pain, hatred, and resentment towards the queer community as she did with HIV. Which is why she was advocating for a change in the language, so we all don't repeat the mistakes of pervious outbreaks and pandemics.
Of course, doctors in Central and West Africa have been calling for help for some time. But now the outbreak is moving between people in different ways, including through sex, leaving some in the U.S. in financial ruin and others scared, alone, and isolated.
Promotional image for What The Pox? podcast featuring Dr Chloe Orkin - Monkeypox stories without ... [+]
Why we need to start talking about 'sexually active' gay and bi men that are affected by monkeypox
Orkin delivers this call as part of an incredible list of literally everything she has learned about the virus whilst doing world leading extensive research in the last few months (Episode two, 30:00").
Orkin's suggestion is a subtle but crucial change we can all make to help end the silence on this outbreak.
It follows media outlets using emotionally charged language like “super spreader” about gay pride events. While others have been framing Grindr’s sexual health advice as alarming “alerts” that are actually not that unusual on the app. This is in a mix of misinformation and confusion around the virus, too.
These headlines have put many in the LGBTQ community on the back foot. They led many of us, including myself to protest: "This isn't a gay and bi men's disease!"
Of course, by repeating this myth, even in an attempt to dispel it, this has further embedded that message.
Indeed, other sexual health experts who join the What The Pox? podcast, an extensive series that explores the outbreak, agree with Orkin. This protest on its own does a massive disservice to those who need information about the virus.
It is fair to say the dense sexual networks including those that went to large sex-on-site events like Darklands has meant, in the UK at least, monkeypox is primarily affecting (in the high 90 percentile) sexually active gay and bi men.
Which is why Orkin is keen more people use that phrase, sexually active. To do so makes it clear who it's affecting without stigmatising a whole community.
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