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| The Olympics is due to take place in Brazil this summer |
This summer's Rio de
Janeiro Olympics should be moved or postponed because of the ongoing Zika
virus, according to more than 150 global health experts.
In
an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International
Olympic Committee (IOC), the experts, including a former White House adviser,
called into question the two organizations’ close relationship and asked for
the Games to be moved to another location or postponed "in the name of
public health".
The
letter cites that the Zika virus has more serious medical consequences than
previously known and that the emergency contains "many
uncertainties".
One
co-author told the Press Association if this year's Games went ahead it risked
becoming "the Olympics of brain damage".
WHO
declared the Zika epidemic to be a global emergency in February and in its
latest assessment this week, said it "does not see an overall decline in
the outbreak".
The
experts, many of whom have worked with the WHO, also voiced concerns over the
relationship between the UN's health agency and the IOC, who they said entered
an official partnership in 2010.
Co-author
of the letter, Professor Amir Attaran called the partnership "beyond the
pale" and called into question the independence of the WHO.
He
said: "It is ignorant and arrogant for the WHO to march hand-in-hand with
the IOC. How can it be ethical to increase the risk of spreading the virus?
"Just
because a fire has begun doesn't mean you need to pour gasoline on it."
On
Friday the IOC announced a new campaign with the WHO in battling child obesity
and said it had been working with the health body "for over 20
years".
Professor
Attaran added that allowing the Olympics to go ahead would lead to the birth of
more brain-damaged children.
The
majority of those infected with Zika will have no symptoms, but for others it
can cause a mild illness with symptoms including a rash, fever and headache.
Serious
complications that arise from infection are not common, but experts have said
the virus can cause microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small
heads due to the fact their brains have not developed properly.
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.
Pregnant
women have already been advised not to travel to Rio and the WHO has predicted
the Zika risk in August would drop since it will be the South American winter
and there should be fewer mosquitoes.
The
letter dismisses this claim because many visitors to Rio may return to
countries with a hotter climate.
WHO
director-general Dr. Margaret Chan said earlier this month that the UN health
agency is increasingly worried about Zika but stopped short of recommending the
Olympics be moved or postponed.
No Olympic Games has ever been moved because of health concerns, but in 2003 FIFA moved the Women's World Cup from China due to the respiratory virus SARS.
WHO Rejects Call For Olympics To Moved Due
To Zika
Reuters
reports that the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday rejected a call
for the Rio Olympic Games to be moved or postponed due to the threat posed by
large outbreak of Zika virus in Brazil.
Responding
to a call from more than 100 leading scientists, who said it would be unethical
for the Games to go ahead as scheduled, the United Nations health agency said
having the Games in Rio as planned would "not significantly alter"
the spread of Zika, which is linked to serious birth defects.
"Based
on the current assessment of Zika virus circulating in almost 60 countries
globally and 39 in the Americas, there is no public health justification for
postponing or cancelling the games," the WHO said in a statement.
In
an public letter posted online on Friday, around 150 leading public health
experts, many of them bioethicists, said the risk of infection from the Zika
virus is too high for the Games to go ahead safely.
The
letter was sent to Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general, and said that the
Games, due to be held in Rio de Janeiro in August, should be moved to another
location or delayed.
"An
unnecessary risk is posed when 500,000 foreign tourists from all countries
attend the Games, potentially acquire that strain, and return home to places
where it can become endemic," the letter said.
But
the WHO rejected the call, saying Brazil "is one of almost 60 countries
and territories" where Zika has been detected and that people continued to
travel between these countries and territories for a variety of reasons.
"The
best way to reduce risk of disease is to follow public health travel
advice," it said.
The
WHO's advice is that pregnant women should not travel to areas with ongoing
Zika virus transmission, including Rio de Janeiro. It also advises everyone to
make all efforts to protect against mosquito bites and to practice safe sex.
Zika
infection in pregnant women has been shown to be a cause of the birth defect
microcephaly and other serious brain abnormalities in babies.
The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last fall in Brazil, which has confirmed more than 1,400 cases of microcephaly.
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