‘Get the facts on monkeypox’ urges Aberdeen LGBT leader amid stigma fears – Aberdeen Live
An Aberdeen charity boss has urged people not to rely on social media for information on monkeypox amid fears over anti-LGBT+ stigma. More than 60 cases of the disease were detected in Scotland between May 23 and July 29, while it has been designated as ‘endemic’ in many African countries and states of emergency have been declared in US states.
The illness has also been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organisation. Health bosses in Scotland say most cases are mild and that the risk of catching it is low but men who have sex with men have been identified as among those most at risk of getting the disease.
READ MORE: NHS Grampian to use digital patient flow technology to ‘achieve an improved experience for patients
Deejay Bullock of charity Four Pillars, which organises Grampian Pride, told Aberdeen Live there was some worry within the city’s LGBT+ community about the outbreak. However, he insisted there was also concern about misconceptions emerging among the public.
He said: “People are saying that it’s a gay man’s disease and it’s absolutely not. Anybody can get monkeypox but there is that stigma already there.
“We have been sharing the NHS Grampian bulletins to get the facts out there as much as possible. We’ve not really had much in the way of interactions with it yet but the numbers are going up and up.”
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Those most at risk of infection are currently being offered immunisation while the NHS works to increase supply of vaccines.
Deejay added: “I got a phone call the other day, I was getting invited for my vaccination and that’ll be going around everybody.
“I understand why the NHS have targeted men who have sex with men for the first round to get it out there. It is prevalent in our community just now.
“But it’s not a gay man’s disease and the next step needs to be that it’s rolled out to everybody. If the cases continue to rise and it’s going to problem, everybody will need to be vaccinated against it.”
Deejay believes people should listen to experts rather than getting their information from untrustworthy places. “Get the facts”, he said.
“Social media is not the place to get that. Go to the reliable sources, go to the NHS, go to the official websites. That’s not just true for monkeypox but also HIV and how much it’s changed over the last 30 years or even the last 10 years.”
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