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WHO / ZIKA OLYMPICS PRESSER
STORY: WHO / ZIKA OLYMPICS PRESSER
TRT: 1:54
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 14 JUNE 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
RECENT - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, WHO exterior
14 JUNE 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) David Heymann, Chair of the Emergency Committee on Zika, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The committee concluded that there is a very low risk of further international spread of Zika virus as a result of the Olympics and Para-Olympics which is already low. The risk is already low. And there is very low risk of further international spread from the Olympics.”
3. Med shot, cameras
4. SOUNDBITE (English) David Heymann, Chair of the Emergency Committee on Zika, World Health Organization (WHO):
“WHO has recommended a whole series of measures to prevent and to control outbreaks of Zika infection and those measures are being implemented in Brazil at present. And the committee recommended that they be continued and they increase and that included a whole range of activities from vector control to information and empowerment of people living in the areas to know how to best prevent infection and to deal with this outbreak.”
5. Wide shot, press room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruce Aylward, Executive Director of Outbreaks and Health Emergencies Cluster, World Health Organization (WHO):
“A statement by a number of the committee members that they ensure the availability of insect repellent and condoms for athletes and visitors in recognition of the increasing evidence, or the evidence now that there is also sexual transmission.”
7. Close up, cell phone recording
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruce Aylward, Executive Director of Outbreaks and Health Emergencies Cluster, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The advice issued by WHO was that in advising women about Zika virus and the risks associated with it and the options, one of those options would be whether or not they might choose to delay pregnancy. And that is very much an individual decision and is not a recommendation of WHO that women delay pregnancies because of course, there is many factors that go into those decisions. So in the guidance that we issued, we were providing clarification on the specific point of would this be one of the options; and our response was ‘yes, this one of the options for women’.”
9. Wide shot, press room
The World Health Organization (WHO) said despite evidence that the Zika virus clearly travelled internationally, the risk of further international spread as a result of the Olympic Games in Brazil was very low.
On Tuesday (14 Jun), WHO’s emergency committee on Zika met to discuss the potential dangers of the spread of the virus and set recommendations to be made public as the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games approached. Speaking to reporters in Geneva following the meeting, the chair of the committee David Heymann said WHO had recommended a series of measures to prevent and control the outbreak of Zika infections which were already being implemented in Brazil.
WHO’s Director of Health Emergencies Bruce Aylward said the committee highlighted four areas of emphasis including vector control, enhancing surveillance for the vector and the disease, making information of the measures taken and their impact available publically, and human protection including through ensuring the availability of insect repellent and condoms for athletes and visitors.
Alyward also clarified previous advice which had been issued by WHO for women regarding the Zika virus. He said one of the options to avoid the risks associated with Zika was for women to delay pregnancy. However he stressed that this was an individual decision and not a recommendation by WHO. He said “there is many factors that go into those decisions” but WHO was just providing an option for women to avoid the risks of the virus.
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