UN launches Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Zika virus response

The United Nations has launched UN Zika Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) to finance critical unfunded priorities in the response to the Zika outbreak.
The fund was launched by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN Headquarters in New York, United States.
Key facts

• The Fund aims to provide a rapid, flexible and accountable platform to support a coordinated response from the UN system and partners.
• It will directly support the Zika Strategic Response Framework developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in consultation with UN agencies, partners and international epidemiological experts.
• This fund will help donors to contribute to a central point and an Advisory Committee will direct funds to the highest-priority activities in the affected countries.

Zika Strategic Response Framework: It aims to investigate and respond to the cluster of microcephaly and other neurological complications linked to Zika virus. It seeks to increase preventive measures, communicate risks, and provide care and support to those affected by Zika virus.
Background

• Since January 2015, 61 countries and territories have reported local outbreak of Zika virus which is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes.
• The outbreak of the virus in some countries especially in Latin America has been accompanied by an unprecedented rise in the number of children being born with unusually small heads – identified with as microcephaly.
• Several countries have also reported an increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GES) – a neurological disorder that can lead to paralysis and death.
• In February 2016, WHO had declared cluster of cases of microcephaly and other neurological disorders, in particular GES as a public health emergency of international concern.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016