Brazilian soldiers conduct an inspection for the Aedes aegypti mosquito in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 15, 2016.
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Zika infection in pregnant women has been shown to be a cause of microcephaly and other brain abnormalities in babies. The Zika virus is highly prevalent in Brazil, and has been linked to neurological disorders in adults in addition to causing numerous serious problems for pregnant women.
It called on World Health Organization to conduct a new assessment of its recommendations regarding Zika and the games, citing concerns about the medical consequences of the strain of the virus found in Brazil.
Holding the Games in Rio, the second-worst affected city in Brazil, would be “irresponsible” and “unethical” and could risk spreading the virus to “poor, as-yet unaffected places” like Africa and South Asia, the letter said.
But the WHO said in a statement on Saturday that “based on the current assessment. there is no public health justification for postponing or cancelling the games”. Frieden also noted that WHO is working with USOC and Brazilian health authorities on the Zika virus issue and will update the public health travel advice if necessary.
“The fire is already burning, but that is not a rationale not to do anything about the Olympics”, said Amir Attaran, a professor at the University of Ottawa and one of the letter’s authors. The virus, which is connected with serious birth defects, is now found in 60 different countries around the world, including 39 countries in the Americas.
He said: ‘WHO screwed up with Ebola, acting deaf, dumb and blind to warnings of medical experts on the ground, and they’re screwing up again on Zika’.
Scientists have found that the Zika virus is responsible for a mass increase of Microcephaly in newborn babies.
“We need to do a better job, perhaps, of communicating everything that’s being done”, he said.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said the Games’ schedule will not be changed despite concerns from several athletes.
The letter was sent to Dr Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, and urged that the Games be moved to another location or delayed. The last one, it added, “outlined cooperation between the two organizations to promote physical activity to fight strokes, heart attacks, diabetes and obesity”.
The WHO rejection of the doctors call underscores the tension that sometimes exists within the medical and scientific communities, often when it comes to the risks posed by a specific disease.
“We live in an incredibly interconnected world”.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee is confident it can minimise the risks.
However, he urged the United States to act more quickly to prevent pregnant women contracting Zika, amid congressional deadlock over the release of $1.9bn (£1.3bn) in funding.
According to some experts, however, the situation has been blown a little out of proportion, saying that there are slim chances of an outbreak because the healthcare structure surrounding the Olympic Games is firm.
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Some 500,000 foreign tourists are expected to attend the Games, which would lead to the virus being spread across the globe to areas it may not have reached if it was not for the Olympics, the letter warned.
