Pronunciation: PHEIC

[NewAmerica]

I am a bit nervous to pronounce PHEIC as /feik/ as it coincides with the sound of "fake."

But it is inconvenient to pronounce it letter by letter. Do US or UK news presenters pronounce it officially as /feik/?

**************************
Phelan agrees that a PHEIC(Public Health Emergency of International Concern) should have been declared at the first meeting of WHO’s emergency committee on 23 January. The WHO declared the outbreak a PHEIC a week later on January 30. At that point less than 100 cases had been reported outside of China and no deaths. But, Phelan notes, “Countries don’t have to wait for a PHEIC declaration to start preparing.”

Source: Science Apr. 14, 2020
'Short sighted.' Health experts decry Trump's freeze on U.S. funding for WHO as world fights pandemic

 

[entangledbank]

I've never even seen this before. You're right, it would be undesirable to pronounce it 'fake'. /fi:k/ is another candidate. But 'outbreak a PHEIC a week' is going to be awkward however they say it.

 

[Andygc]

I doubt any British news reader would say it letter by letter or as a word. They would say something along the lines of "Phelan agreed that an international public health emergency should have been declared at the first meeting". It's not an initialism that many in an audience would recognise or want to recognise, and they wouldn't be in the least bothered to know that the official title had "of International Concern" tagged on at the end.

 

[london calling]

It almost sounds like a joke, given Trump's obsession with fake news. Let's see if someone knows how it's said.

 

[Myridon]

I've never even seen this before.

Ditto, and the expanded version makes me think of the Rodents of Unusual Size from The Princess Bride. Seems like the product of an international committee.