$56M NEEDED BY WHO TO IMPLEMENT ZIKA VIRUS STRATEGY

The World Health Organisation, WHO, has said it requires 56 million dollars to implement the recently launched global Zika virus strategy in response to the virus outbreak.

The Executive Director of the WHO Office in New York, Natela Menabde, announced this on Wednesday to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). According to her, $25 million would fund the joint response of WHO, the Regional Office for the Americas (AMRO) and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and $31 million for key partners.

Menabde explained that upon the outbreak of the virus, WHO launched a global strategy to guide the international response to the spread of the virus and the neonatal malformations and neurological conditions associated with it. The strategy, also known as the “Strategic Response Framework and Joint Operations Plan”, focused on mobilizing and coordinating partners, experts and resources to help countries, Menabde further explained.

Menabde said in the in the interim, WHO had tapped a recently established emergency contingency fund to finance its initial operations. She said under the new emergency programme, the global health agency had activated an “Incident Management System’’ to oversee the global response and leverage expertise from across the organization to address the crisis.

The Zika virus outbreak has become a global concern and has hit hardest in the Americas, with Brazil being the hardest hit country.

To learn facts about zika virus, check our earlier post on facts about zika virus.