World Health Organization (WHO) has budgeted $56 million for the worldwide management of the fetus-deforming Zika virus, according to latest announcements by the international health organization. However, the large-sized budget would cover operations until June, according to other reports.
The costs include funding of advanced vaccine development to combat the virus as well as diagnostics. It would also fund research on the pathway of the mosquito-borne virus, the announcement noted. Of the $56 million, nearly $25 million will be spent by WHO regional offices.
The presence of the virus is confirmed in nearly 39 countries now, after it's first detection nearly 45 years ago.
Studies have thus far identified that the virus spreads from a pregnant mother to the fetus she carries. The infected fetus is born with defects, and in extreme cases, the pregnancy itself may end in miscarriage.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already issued an advisory for pregnant women wanting to travel to infected areas. There have been significant numbers of birth defects reported in Brazil, and other South American countries, WHO advised.
Margaret Chan, the WHO Director-general said that the neurological complications have come to be recognized as a big trigger that converts mild threats into serious proportions in places where the Zika virus is prevalent.
The massive budgetary outlay of $56 million that WHO has proposed to sustain the Zika Virus by June is a challenge for the international agency. Chan said that the initial funds of $2 million would come from the emergency contingency fund of the international organization.
On Feb. 1, WHO declared that Zika threatens global public health as it also causes two neurological disorders- microcephaly in newborns and Guillain-Barre syndrome in paralytic patients.
The WHO has said that "existing scarce evidence" of the Zika virus "indicates that there may be a risk of sexual transmission." Hence, sizable section of the budgetary spend is on research studies - whether Zika virus is transmitted in semen, or other body fluids like pregnancy fluids and more.
