Due to the widespread of Zika virus, more than 100 doctors and scientists requested the World Health Organization (WHO) to postpone or move the Rio Olympic Games this summer but WHO rejected the appeal saying that it will "not significantly alter" the virus spread.
"We make this call despite the widespread fatalism that the Rio 2016 Games are inevitable or 'too big to fail,' " said the letter addressed to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, according to CNN. "Our greater concern is for global health. The Brazilian strain of Zika virus harms health in ways that science has not observed before."
The controversial paper was published earlier this month in the Harvard Public Health Review saying that the Games should be moved or cancelled since it may speed up the spread of Zika virus around the world and that the country has a "weakened" health system. They cited that mosquito-eradication programme in Brazil has failed and their request should be heard "the name of public health," BBC News reported.
Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) also agrees with WHO saying that there is no reason to delay or move the Games due to the mosquito-borne disease.
"There is no public health reason to cancel or delay the Olympics," said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a luncheon at The National Press Club in Washington, Telegraph reported.
The virus greatly affects pregnant women wherein babies get abnormally small heads and may cause brain abnormalities or even fatal neurological syndrome in adults.
The WHO released a statement that based on its current assessment that "canceling or changing the location of the 2016 Olympics will not significantly alter the international spread of Zika virus."
Brazil is one of the 60 countries that has transmission of Zika through mosquitoes and this is being spread due to travelling from one country to another.
The Olympics will begin on August 5 to August 21 wherein more than 500,000 people will travel to Brazil from different parts of the world. But according to CDC, the Olympic-related travel is just 0.25% of the 40 million travelers between US and other countries wherein Zika is spreading.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
