The European Commission on Tuesday announced that the European Union (EU) has released 11.1 million dollars for research into the Zika virus.
Vytenis Andriukaitis, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety said in Brussels that the funding came from Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and innovation funding programme.
He said that the fund would go into projects that would prove the link between the virus and severe brain malformations reported in newborn children.
Andriukaitis added that if proven, researchers could then move on to combat the Zika virus, including developing diagnostics and testing potential treatments or vaccines.
The commissioner said “a number of EU citizens have returned from affected areas with the Zika virus.”
He explained that the European Commission was carefully monitoring the situation “and as the summer approaches, EU is working closely together with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.”
Andriukaitis said WHO and member states would put in place all necessary measures to ensure that the response to the virus was coherent and well-coordinated.
He added that the funding would also complement a number of other research initiatives currently funded under Horizon 2020 that could aid in the fight against Zika.
-Xinhua/NAN
