The summer of 2012 was glorious. If you were lucky enough to attend the Olympic games or be in London during those three weeks, you’ll remember that infectious, positive spirit of the city (strangers were actually talking on the tube about the Games, can you imagine?!)
It was bittersweet witnessing the Olympic torch being handed over to Rio de Janeiro at the closing ceremony. The city took centre stage and wasted no time in showing the world the best of what Brazil has to offer, and promising a big party for summer 2016.
Fast-forward time and with just under six months before the (probable) reappearance of Pele and some leggy supermodels at the opening ceremony, the Games, as well as Brazil’s economy and public health, is in the news for all the wrong reasons – the threat of the Zika virus.
I first read about the rise of microcephaly in babies born to mothers who had experienced rashes early in their pregnancy while I was travelling in Chile last December. South American media outlets were reporting heavily and the countries watched nervously the twists and turns of what was unfolding.
Two months later, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the mosquito-borne virus Zika as a medical global emergency. It has now spread to 29 countries and only a few days ago the first European pregnancy case was confirmed in Spain.
What seemed so distant, and easily assumed to be a ‘developing nation’ problem, really hit home when my colleague decided to cancel his highly anticipated holiday to Brazil because his wife is due to give birth later this year.
So what’s being done? Health ministries, including Public Health England, are warning pregnant women to avoid countries where the virus is circulating. Some have advised women to refrain from unprotected sex with men who have visited countries with the Zika virus, and El Salvador has gone a step further by asking women to wait until 2018 before becoming pregnant.
The outbreak has also sparked an interesting debate around the topic of abortion and birth control in a region that is predominantly Catholic.
Concerned about the outbreak, the International Olympics Committee is working closely with the Brazilian authorities and WHO – although they say they’re confident it will have cleared up by August.
In the pharmaceutical world, the race to launch vaccines is underway. According to Forbes, GSK, Sanofi and small biotech firm Inovio are either considering or actively pursuing the search for a Zika vaccine.
From an epidemiological perspective, it seems there’s still a lot to do as health experts claim that very little is known. For now however, prevention strategy, education and monitoring are crucial in controlling the spread of the virus.
There is hope in how we manage the outbreak. According to the Presidents of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, there are a few things we can learn from the 1980s, “The early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic demonstrated the dangers of letting fear dictate policy. As families understandably struggle with the anxiety and uncertainty from this new threat, we must ensure we are guided by facts and science.”
The editor of the Lancet commented that despite the low likelihood of controlling Zika quickly, the outbreak does present Brazil with a unique opportunity; to advance the state of the country’s current healthcare system and governmental policies, “Diseases are no longer seen as pathologies of the body. They also become pathologies of the environment. Health is no longer a quality within the pure control of the individual. It is something that depends on the organisation of society.”
It doesn’t help that the Brazilian health minister is pessimistic about the whole situation. Nevertheless, it seems like the locals won’t let the Zika virus get in the way of the their famous festival spirit as they’ve been enjoying the celebrations of carnaval and visitors seem keen to get involved too, as some locals report little evidence that tourists are keeping their distance.
Party on
As governments, health bodies and research institutes around the world continue to work hard to prevent the spread of the virus, the hope is that locals and the international community stay optimistic for the upcoming Olympic games in Rio – such an important event with the potential for lasting positive effects for the economy and people.