Increasing Poverty Could Cause The Zika Virus To Return
Increasing Poverty Could Cause The Zika Virus To Return
Given the current situation, it seems fair to claim that Zika is not causing the devastation that it did around the world a year ago. This is especially true for our southern neighbors, who were undoubtedly hit the hardest by the virus. Although this is certainly good news, we should not consider Zika to be a virus that has simply passed us by. For example, the impoverished conditions in Brazil may be inviting another Zika epidemic that could both devastate the country as well as put Americans at higher risk. Just two months ago public health officials within the country of Brazil dismissed the Zika virus as no longer being a matter of emergency to citizens and travelers within the country. But now, some experts are singing a different tune.
The Human Rights Watch recently released a report that ultimately said that the underlying conditions that made Zika so devastating within Brazil are still present, and nobody seems to be doing anything to improve these poor conditions. For example, the Zika outbreak in Brazil last summer made many experts take notice of the poor sanitation, the lack of access to clean water in some areas, poverty and sexual health restrictions. According to Amanda Klasing, one of the authors of the report, Brazil is still at great risk of experiencing another epidemic because the above listed conditions still exist.
In many regions of Brazil, citizens do not have proper sanitation departments, and contraception education has not been up to the proper standards. Also, many women that have abortions after finding out that they are infected with Zika are not legally allowed to obtain an abortion. In the vast majority of cases, abortion is illegal, and contraception methods are downplayed. Many Zika-infected women interviewed for the report were unaware that Zika could be transmitted sexually; half of these mothers ended up giving birth to babies with Zika induced microcephaly. This lack of knowledge regarding the Zika virus puts other areas of the world at risk of Zika outbreaks.
Do you believe that the citizens of the united states have been properly educated concerning the nature of the Zika virus?