Spelling
British spelling, rather than American, is normally used at WHO-HQ. The general rule is to follow the spelling listed in the latest edition of The Concise Oxford dictionary. Exceptions are listed in the WHO Style Guide; there may also be regional variations. Exceptions are generally of three types:
- acknowledging a different spelling that has become established usage in WHO
- respecting the recommendations of international nomenclature-setting bodies
- reproducing quoted materials, or book or article titles, or organization names, for which the original spelling must be kept.
Disease names, chemical names, and drugs and pesticides generally follow the spellings established by other international bodies. Exceptions are noted in the WHO Style Guide.
- Disease names – International Nomenclature of Diseases (IND) spellings; other medical terms follow British usage, with some exceptions such as hemoglobin (not haemoglobin).
- Pharmaceuticals – International Proprietary Names (INN) spellings
- Chemical names – International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) spellings
WHO house style includes preferred spellings of words ending in -ize, -ise and –yse.
- WHO uses the –ize ending when there is a choice between using the suffix –ize or –ise (for example, organize or organise).
- WHO uses –yse endings for words like analyse, dialyse and hydrolyse.
Consult the WHO Style Guide for the spelling of individual words with these endings.
