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Combating Zika

Speeches Shim

A mother and her baby visit a Zika clinic

Photo by Brendan Bannon, USAID

Infectious diseases and their devastating effects do not respect national borders.

By responding to the Zika virus epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean, USAID is reducing the outbreak’s impact on at-risk countries as well as preventing its potential spread to the United States. Our focus is to protect individuals, particularly pregnant women, from Zika by controlling the spread of the virus, increasing awareness of how the virus is transmitted and how to prevent infection, improving disease detection and monitoring of transmission, and supporting people who are affected. In addition, USAID is conducting research and catalyzing the development of innovative tools to combat mosquito-borne diseases like Zika, so that the world is better prepared for the next outbreak. USAID’s efforts support countries’ ability to respond to Zika as well as future disease threats, because we know that strength abroad means safety at home.

WHAT WE DO

Mosquito Control
USAID is reducing populations of the mosquito that spreads Zika and building national and regional capacity to conduct mosquito control and surveillance for Zika and future mosquito-borne outbreaks.

Service Delivery
USAID is protecting vulnerable women and their children from the devastating e ects of the Zika virus by ensuring access to high quality Zika health services and information. For families affected by Zika, USAID is building national systems to provide critical care and support resources.

Social and Behavior Change
As USAID learns more about Zika, it is informing people of how it spreads and how they can stay safe from it through educational print materials, media campaigns, and social media techniques.

Community Engagement
USAID is leveraging community partners and leadership to disseminate key Zika prevention messages and reduce Zika-carrying mosquito populations through low-cost interventions in homes and communities.

Innovations
In 2016, USAID launched “Combating Zika and Future Threats: A Grand Challenge for Development”. The $30 million Challenge called upon the global innovator community to generate cutting-edge approaches to fight the current Zika outbreak and to help strengthen the world’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to future infectious disease outbreaks.