WHO Ruling Will Encourage Olympic Visits to Brazil, Says Minister
Health Minister Ricardo Barros said this Tuesday (14) that the WHO's classification of Zika transmission as a "low-risk" threat during the Rio 2016 Olympics would "confirm" the arrival of tourists and athletes for the event.
Barros said reassurance from the World Health Organisation that the virus was no more likely to spread during the period of the games than at any other time would encourage people to visit the city. "We believe that we can now confirm a huge influx of tourists," he said
The WHO has declared that Zika risks at the Olympics are no higher than they are in any other country where there is confirmed transmission of the virus. The statement follows a meeting of specialists from the organisation's select Emergency Committee.
However, the Minister admitted there were concerns that the WHO would release further, contradictory, recommendations, or that the organisation might belatedly change its stance.
In May, around 150 specialists petitioned for the games to be postponed or relocated owing to the risk of Zika transmission. Since then, the Brazilian government has stepped up efforts to combat the virus, hoping to minimise criticisms about the event's organisation.
After the meeting with the select committee, the WHO maintained its opinion that recent increases in cases of microcephaly and other neurological illnesses, like Guillain-Barré syndrome, constituted an international public health emergency.
Experts affiliated with the organisation, however, felt that it was also necessary to label the virus itself as an international emergency, not just its complications. This conclusion was reached following the results of a recent study that link the virus as a cause of microcephaly.
The WHO ruled that precautions should be taken at the Olympics, where large gatherings and crowds could make people more susceptible. However, the organisation stated that individual risks in countries where there are already recorded cases of Zika transmission will not be effected by the Olympics going ahead in Rio.
The WHO also maintained that any risks could be minimised with preventative methods.
"There might be more people exposed, but the risks are the same," said Committee Coordinator David Heymann. He also pointed out that during Brazil's winter months transmission of the virus is less frequent, and mentioned the methods currently in place in Brazil to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Translated by GILLIAN SOPHIE HARRIS