Save the Children Mobilizing to Help Prevent
Spread of Zika Virus in High-priority Countries
in the Americas
February 5, 2016
The Emergency
The World Health Organization has declared the
mosquito-borne Zika virus outbreak as an
“extraordinary event” and a public health
emergency. Twenty-six countries and territories in
the Americas have reported local transmission of
Zika virus infections as of today. The World Health
Organization describes the spread of Zika as
“explosive” and anticipates that the virus is likely to
spread to all countries in the region that have the
Aedes mosquito, and could affect as many as 4
million people.
Unlike other pandemic diseases, the biggest fear
among families and communities is not the death of
loved ones, but disability of an unborn child. Health
experts strongly suspect that there is a risk of a
birth defect called microcephaly and other poor
pregnancy outcomes in babies of women who were
infected with Zika virus while pregnant.
Since May 2015, Brazil has reported more than
4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly associated
with Zika infection – a dramatic increase from the
typically fewer than 150 cases per year.
Microcephaly has also been reported in Colombia.
The Impact on Children and Families
Zika can have a serious and lifelong impact on
children. Microcephaly can have a range of effects,
the severity of which differs between cases. It can
cause developmental delay such as problems with
speech and movement, intellectual disability, feeding
difficulties, hearing loss and vision problems. Effects
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are often lifelong and in some cases can be lifethreatening. As well as significantly damaging the
ability of a child to live a full and healthy life, the
condition also places a significant burden of care on
families and communities.
The virus is carried by mosquitoes in most cases,
but may also be transmitted in other ways.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, a mother infected with Zika virus
near the time of delivery can pass on the virus to
her newborn around the time of birth. It is possible
that Zika virus could be passed from a mother to
her baby during pregnancy. To date, there are no
reports of infants getting Zika virus through
breastfeeding.
The disease’s impact is being felt largely among
poor, marginalized populations living in tropical and
sub-tropical regions. The possibility of thousands of
affected children will be daunting for countries
already struggling under the weight of widespread
poverty, weak economies, and social challenges.
Save the Children is especially concerned that many
more pregnant women will be exposed to Zika in
the coming months, as the region will enter the
rainy season soon, leading to an increase in
mosquito populations.
Our Expanding Response
Save the Children has worked for decades
throughout the Central and South American region
where the Zika virus has spread. We will be
responding through our established programs and
expert staff.
We are urgently seeking a minimum of
$5 million in new funding to initiate and scale
up responses in high-priority countries we’ve
identified for immediate action. Your
contribution, pooled with other resources, will
underpin our strategy of addressing the
outbreak through education, prevention and
enhanced reproductive health care services for
women. As the crisis evolves, your support will
also provide the flexibility we require to adapt
and expand programming and pivot quickly
should new needs arise.
Our 10 priority countries are, in order of urgency,
El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia,
Guatemala, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Peru,
Bolivia and Ecuador. Our field and regional teams
are now working nonstop to initiate critical work.
Education:
Drawing on lessons learned from the Ebola
response, we will educate people about the virus to
help minimize infection. It is crucial that pregnant
women in particular understand how the virus is
transmitted and how to prevent mosquito bites.
 We are quickly developing country-specific
communications materials around Zika and will
use these in community awareness activities. We
will inform communities about Zika and its
prevention. Materials may include leaflets,
posters, and messages to be broadcast on local
radio stations and over loudspeakers.
 Our El Salvador country office is currently
promoting discussions with health and
community volunteers so women who are
pregnant or may become pregnant are aware of
the risks the Zika virus carries.
Prevention:
 We will seek to distribute thousands of
insecticide-treated bed nets to families to
protect members, especially women, from
mosquito bites while sleeping.
 Our national health experts will look to support
Ministries of Health in conducting mosquito
control activities in communities. These could
include targeting household-level wells or water
storage tanks, and water collecting in static piles
of garbage, to reduce breeding sites.
Reproductive Care for Women:
More than half of all pregnancies are unintended in
this region, as women and adolescents are often
denied the power or access to the services needed
to determine their own pregnancies. Women do
not always have access to family planning services or
critical antenatal care and may have insufficient
access to infant and child healthcare.
 Save the Children is a respected provider of
reproductive health services throughout the
region. We plan to enhance these services by
providing counseling to pregnant women in
prenatal care, and improving women’s access to
birth control. As cases of transmission through
sexual contact have been reported, we will also
seek to promote the use of condoms.
Save the Children is also assessing how we can help
prevent the Zika virus by incorporating messaging
into other current programs, including our work in
water sanitation and hygiene.
Why Save the Children?
Save the Children is the world’s leading childfocused humanitarian organization. We have nearly
100 years’ experience responding to children and
their families during and after crises.
Save the Children already works in the Dominican
Republic, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia,
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Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru, Bolivia, Cuba,
Ecuador and Paraguay. Our programs include child
protection, nutrition, education, food security and
livelihoods, water, sanitation and hygiene, health,
child rights governance, disaster risk reduction and
emergency responses.
We have well-trained national staff and strong
partners in these countries. Our international
experts in health, water and sanitation, and
education can join our local staff if needed. Because
we work directly with children and families in the
heart of the crisis, we know immediately when
conditions change and are flexible so that we’re
always meeting the most urgent needs.
Nobody knows when the next crisis will strike. That's why 10 percent of your
generous gift goes to helping our emergency team prepare for and provide
critical assistance when and where children need us the most.
501 Kings Highway East
Suite 400
Fairfield, CT 06825
1-800 Save the Children
SavetheChildren.org