Public health experts and advocates are already getting frustrated as several U.S. politicians still refuse to allocate any funding for Zika virus response. As a matter of fact, the partisan politics are reportedly making the Zika situation worse in the United States by rejecting the funding request on Zika prevention and research.
As of Aug. 3, there have been more than 1,800 Zika virus cases identified in the continental United States while 15 babies have been born with Zika-related birth defects. But as the whole nation awaits the decision of the government for the Zika response funding, the virus that has been declared as a global public health threat by the World Health Organization has already invaded America, with four locally transmitted Zika cases recorded in Florida last week.
Due to the lack of support from the government, experts believed the United States is at a greater risk to face a "full-blown epidemic." According to Quartz, the failure to reach an agreement for Zika funding as well as the "divisive political" environment has sidelined the nation's response to epidemics.
The political resistance for public health funding on Zika reportedly started when the Congress rejected President Barack Obama's $1.9 billion request for Zika virus response in February, Parent Herald previously reported. Even though the Senate agreed to allot $1.1 billion for Zika, the House delayed the funding by authorizing only 50 percent of the said amount.
As the U.S. government continues to waste more time in figuring out how to deal with the Zika virus, America's less fortunate and economically challenged families "stand to suffer the most." In spite of the Zika threat, legislators insist no federal funding as it would only give an opportunity for politicians to advance their political interests.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Thomas Frieden, however, criticized the Congress for its lack of support to fight the Zika virus. In fact, Frieden said America will deal with Zika with only one hand while the Congress allows people to drown even if it has the power to stop it, The New Yorker noted.
In other Zika virus-related news, Florida's $82 billion tourism industry is reportedly in danger due to the presence of Zika virus-carrying mosquitoes in the state. As a matter of fact, tourists are worried to travel to Florida while officials are nervous on the effect of the epidemic on its tourism, Fox News learned.
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