AMU Emergency Management Public Safety

NGA Calls for Action on Zika Funding, Senate Set to Vote on Tuesday

No more delays on Zika funding, NGA says

The National Governors Association (NGA) released an official statement earlier this week that strongly urged quick action on Zika funding in the U.S. According to the [link url=”http://www.nga.org/cms/home/news-room/news-releases/2016–news-releases/col2-content/governors-ask-for-swift-action.html” title=”NGA statement“], the United States needs to act swiftly and pointedly to fund the fight against Zika in the nation and stop the virus in its tracks before it starts to spread more rapidly.

The NGA noted how, in public health emergencies, the importance lies in not allowing incidence levels to reach the critical “tipping point” that can ultimately turn health concerns into full-blown infectious disease outbreaks. Because of this, the group urged political groups to “work together to reach agreement on the appropriate funding levels needed to prepare for and combat the Zika virus.”

Senate vote set for Tuesday

Just a few hours ago, the Senate [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/05/12/senate-reaches-deal-on-zika-funding-will-vote-tuesday/” title=”reached a bipartisan deal“] that would provide $1.1 billion in Zika funding. The Senate is now set to vote next Tuesday on three separate Zika funding options.

The three separate Zika funding options: One option is the new $1.1 billion agreement, while a second option is to fully fund the original [link url=”https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/22/letter-president-zika-virus” title=”$1.9 billion requested by the White House“] back in February, and a third, largely GOP-backed, option involves a scenario that includes more than $1 billion in cuts to an Affordable Care Act program to fund the fight against the mosquito-borne virus.

Confirmed Zika cases in the U.S. continue to rise

According to the most recent report from the [link url=”http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/united-states.html” title=”Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)“] (as of May 11, 2016), there are now 503 confirmed Zika cases in U.S. states and 1,204 confirmed Zika cases in U.S. states and U.S. territories combined. Of the 1,204 confirmed U.S. cases, 103 are known to be pregnant women.

While these current U.S. numbers do pale in comparison to the outbreak in some other countries — Brazil, for example, reportedly has [link url=”http://news.trust.org/item/20160511233409-oblqi/” title=”4,759 suspected cases of microcephaly associated with the Zika virus“], and, back in February, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that the South American nation already had upwards of [link url=”http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/204348/1/zikasitrep_5Feb2016_eng.pdf” title=”1.4 million Zika cases“] — the number of confirmed Zika cases in the U.S. is continuing to grow nonetheless.

With the summer, i.e. prime mosquito months, approaching in the U.S., many — including the NGA — feel that the time for funding is right now.

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