Education
Discriminatory MonkeyPox name to be retired
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
November 30, 2022 – Mpox is what the Monkeypox disease will be called going forward according to the World Health Organization which decided on a rename citing incidents of racism. The announcement was made on Monday November 28th; three months after the WHO had announced their intent to seek the change.
“When the outbreak of monkeypox expanded earlier this year, racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings and in some communities was observed and reported to WHO.”
The organization explained. The names of the two clades were changed earlier this year as well. The two clades of Mpox had been named after the areas in which they were found, in the Congo Basin and West Africa. 
“Consensus was reached to now refer to the former Congo Basin (Central African) clade as Clade one (I) and the former West African clade as Clade two (II),” the WHO said in August.
The changes come as the globe experiences its largest outbreak in history with thousands of cases across the globe in areas where the virus had never historically presented.
Mpox disease, formerly known as monkeypox disease, was named by scientists in 1970 after the virus which causes it which was first discovered in monkeys in 1958. While the disease has been renamed, the virus that causes it is still called monkeypox virus.
A virus and the disease it causes are separate entities, for example the Spanish Flu disease, is caused by an offshoot of the H1N1 virus and COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus While neither of these diseases are named after their viruses Monkeypox was.
It is now up to the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) to rename the virus.
Both Mpox and Monkeypox will be used simultaneously to refer to the disease for the next twelve months until monkeypox is totally phased out.
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, May 30, 2023 – After years of excellent performance in international competition from the Turks and Caicos’ young swimmers, despite having no official practice facilities the government says it is finally fulfilling its promise to build them an Olympic size pool. Rachael Taylor, Minister of Education with responsibility for youth and sport made the announcement during the national budget debate on May 18th.
“The development of the Aquatics Centre under the Sports Commission remit n the amount of $3.7 million will be a green initiative with solar panels and green spaces,” she said.
The TCI has brought home multiple medals from international events, including the CARIFTA Games and had its swimmers qualify for the Commonwealth Games as well.
All this has been done without proper practice facilities. The youngsters practice in whatever pool they can manage, some of them with sharp edges made for recreation rather than competitive swimming and others, which are too small.
The frustrating process has resulted in some talented youngsters simply giving up or reluctantly moving on to countries with better resources.
Taylor promised the pool to the athletes in a one on one meeting held with junior swimmers; last year the space had been announced as secured for construction to begin.
She did not give a timeline for the project.
50th anniversary of Independence on Wednesday, May 24 with a march and rally, from the Ministry for Grand Bahama to Open Park in downtown Freeport.
Lightbourne, got the students involved by having them wave their flags and yell “Bahamas” whenever he said “242”.The participation of the students in the march and rally, said Minister Lightbourne, proves that “we are doing something right. No matter what is said, this is still the greatest little country anywhere on this planet.”
#TurksandCaicos, May 23, 2023 – The Department of Gender Affairs recently launched the International Girls in ICT 2023 Essay Competition under the theme “Digital Skills for Life.”
The competition’s goal was to help raise awareness and emphasize the value of women in ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and to inspire more girls and young women to pursue STEM-related fields of study. In
addition, the competition further brought awareness to the abilities necessary to use ICT effectively to succeed in STEM fields.
Eleven (11) entries were submitted to the department from schools across the TCI. The entries were reviewed and graded by a panel of educators and Information Communication and Technology (ICT) expert judges. The final results revealed the following students as the competition’s top three winners:
1st Place – Janae Lewis (Oseta Jolly Primary School)
2nd Place – Alandson Pierre (H.J. Robinson High School)
3rd Place – Chimezirim Orumba (Ianthe Pratt Primary School)
The Department of Gender Affairs expresses its profound gratitude and extends congratulations to all participants for their high interest.
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