World Bank offers $150 million to combat Zika
The World Bank offered $150 million Thursday to fight the Zika outbreak and provide medical care.
The institution said more funds could be made available if needed in the future.
The Zika outbreak, which has spread to more than two dozen countries and territories in the Americas, is likely to slow the region's economy, decreasing gross domestic product in 2016 by $3.5 billion, or 0.06%, according to the World Bank.
That prediction is based on a "swift, well-coordinated international response" to the epidemic, which poses the greatest risk to pregnant women. Zika is associated with an increase in birth defects in Brazil.
Economic losses could be greater in the Caribbean, where national economies depend heavily on tourism. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization advise pregnant women to avoid traveling to areas with Zika outbreaks.
“Our analysis underscores the importance of urgent action to halt the spread of the Zika virus and to protect the health and well-being of people in the affected countries,” said Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group. “The World Bank Group stands ready to support the countries affected by this health crisis and to provide additional support if needed.”
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Money from the World Bank can be used to track the spread of Zika and the mosquito population that transmits it. The funds will provide prenatal care to pregnant women and health care for babies with neurological complications, such as microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with small heads and incomplete brain development.
The WHO announced this week it needs $56 million to fight the Zika virus through June, and may need more money after that. President Obama has asked Congress for $1.8 billion to fight Zika in the USA and abroad.