Protect Children in Latin America from Zika Virus

Dear Friend,

Thank you so much for your support! You have helped to fully fund key components of our project, “Protect Children in Latin America from Zika Virus.” The Zika virus crisis began in 2015 and affected many countries across Latin American and the Caribbean region. It was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization (WHO), given the suspected linkage to birth defects and potential to infect up to four million people in a year. During the initial outbreak, UNICEF scaled up its support using its network of local offices, and worked to slow the spread of the virus, mitigate its impact and drive the creation of rapid diagnostic tests.

UNICEF priorities and impact were in three main areas:

1. Informing and engaging communities on preventive measures
2. Care and support for affected children and families
3. Supporting the development of diagnostic tools

In the absence of a cure and ongoing challenges to control the spread of the virus, the development of a vaccine is still of paramount importance, especially for pregnant women and women of child bearing age. Ongoing support is needed to fund research and coordination efforts of vaccine development activities.

While UNICEF USA is closing this project on the GlobalGiving site, we would greatly appreciate your continued support of UNICEF Zika response through the UNICEF Emergency Response project here on GlobalGiving. By supporting UNICEF’s work through that program, you can receive updates on current emergencies happening around the globe, UNICEF’s response, and how you are creating an impact.  You can continue to see updates on our programs at www.unicefusa.org; following us on Twitter, or on Facebook.

On behalf of the children impacted by the Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean, thank you!

Links:

• UNICEF: Zika Global Response
• UNICEF's GlobalGiving Emergency Response Project