Jane Philpott, Minister of Health, has announced an investment of $4.95 million in the global fight against the Zika virus.
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika virus a public health emergency of international concern, as cases of the virus have now been documented in more than 60 countries. Scientists agree that Zika virus infection during pregnancy is a cause of microcephaly—a birth defect marked by an abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain—as well as Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological disorder. To date, 68 people in Canada have tested positive for the virus.
Canada has taken rigorous action to tackle the spread of the Zika virus in the Americas. Through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the International Development Research Centre, Canada is investing $3 million to fund teams of Canadian and Latin American and Caribbean researchers. The Public Health Agency of Canada is contributing a further $950,000 to support the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) in responding to the epidemic in the hardest hit countries. Global Affairs Canada will also provide $1 million in humanitarian funding to the WHO, PAHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
“In the countries that have been hardest hit by the Zika virus, in Latin America and the Caribbean, thousands of cases of microcephaly have left parents distraught and pregnant women fearful,” says Philpott. “The funding announced today will allow Canadian researchers to work together with their counterparts in Latin America and the Caribbean to better understand this virus and its complications, while the funding for the Pan-American Health Organization and other agencies will help address this significant widespread outbreak.”
