Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:00 pm on 24 May 2022.
First Minister, a first case of monkeypox in Scotland yesterday brings the total UK numbers up to 57. While health experts have stressed that risk remains low and that the disease can be contained, to some, this unusual multiplication of the virus will be familiar and seem like an echo of early 2020. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS agency has expressed concern that some of the reporting and commentary on monkeypox has used language and imagery that is discriminatory, reinforcing homophobic and racist stereotypes that are not just wrong, but also undermine our ability to respond. Can you set out the public measures that you are taking as a Government, emphasising that, while anyone can get the disease, no-one should be prevented from coming forward to get the medical help they need and help us prevent onward transmission because they fear being blamed or stigmatised? We must reject prejudice in health, must we not, as firmly as we must do in education.