Sufficient, Quick Funding Critical To Provide Effective Zika Response, CDC Director Says

CQ HealthBeat: CDC Director Outlines Zika Funding Challenges
“As the House and Senate on Thursday moved closer to negotiations over funding to combat the Zika virus, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continued the administration’s criticism of congressional inaction. … As the agency waits for supplemental funding to coordinate a Zika response, [Tom] Frieden said that research and development for improved diagnostic tests has been stalled, and $50 million was diverted for Zika from an account used for emergency preparedness in the states for natural disasters…” (Siddons, 5/26).

The Hill: CDC director: ‘We’re losing time with Zika’
“… ‘We have a narrow window of opportunity to scale up effective Zika prevention measures, and that window of opportunity is closing,’ Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said during a speech at the National Press Club. The CDC director spoke to a crowd of public health advocates just minutes after the House and Senate began talks to merge their two funding bills for Zika. Both fall short of President Obama’s $1.9 billion funding request to fight Zika in U.S. states and territories and abroad…” (Ferris, 5/26).

POLITICO: Frieden: CDC will lose Zika fight without funding
“…No new Zika funds means far fewer tools, tests, and protections for pregnant women and children at risk of a virus causing severe birth defects and neurological diseases. And when fighting an outbreak, every dollar counts — and so does every day that passes, Frieden stressed…” (Diamond, 5/26).

Reuters: U.S. health official says Zika not a reason to cancel Olympics
“… ‘There is no public health reason to cancel or delay the Olympics,’ Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington. A controversial paper by a Canadian professor published earlier this month in the Harvard Public Health Review called for the Games to be canceled or moved because it said they would likely speed up the spread of Zika throughout the world…” (Berkrot, 5/26).

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