SAJA advises organisations against 'India variant' term ANI 08 May 2021, 11:55 GMT+10 New York [US], May 8 (ANI): The South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) is advising news organisations against using the term 'India variant' or 'Indian variant', while describing the new strain of COVID-19 that reportedly originated out of India. In a statement, the association said that its guidance is in keeping with best practices issued in 2015 by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which warns that the naming of diseases, viruses or variants after the countries from which they originate could stigmatise the people living there. "Over the years, certain disease names have provoked verbal, physical or social backlash against members of specific religious or ethnic groups. The most recent example is COVID-19, which was first detected in Wuhan, China. Health experts and advocates have directly connected terms like the "China virus" or "Wuhan virus" to the recent increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans," the SAJA said.