WHO Chief Blames ZIKA Virus Outbreak on Society

The Zika epidemic, along with the birth defects that are associated with it, seems to be the government's fault, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday. The governments failed to control mosquitoes and to provide basic family planning assistance to young women.

"Let me give you a stern warning. What we are seeing now looks more and more like a dramatic resurgence of the threat from emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. The world is not prepared to cope," WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan told a meeting of the World Health Assembly according to NBC News.

Experts in Brazil claim that the country once eliminated the Zika dengue carrying mosquito Aeded aegypti, after which, the government simply abandoned the programme. As soon as the programs were introduced, the mosquitoes which are a highly successful species came back.

Chan also said that the deadly Ebola, in West Africa alone, has claimed more than 11,000 lives. Yellow fever in Africa shows how unprepared the government is.

Besides the severe epidemics, the new born babies are also suffered. They are born with incurable and devastating birth defects.

The warning issued by Chan highlights what the Obama administration has already told about the state of public health. According to them, there is no sufficient funding for public health, and this cutback comes at a time when more money should be put to protect kids from these new threats such as Zika.

Since summer is a treat for breeding mosquitoes, there will be a lot more of them. The administration is urging Republicans to brace themselves by funding their tools for the hard times that are to come.

Chan stressed that WHO has been trying to prepare and help the world to fight against these new outbreaks. This also requires the other countries to strengthen their internal health programs and then report their findings. However, the countries have paid little heed to it and have not implemented this advice well enough.