Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Zika Money Debate Dominates Capitol Hill, Other Health Priorities Pushed To Backburner
Public health groups are disappointed Congress has dragged out funding to fight the Zika virus and neglected other health priorities. But a coalition of health groups that have lobbied for Zika funding is satisfied with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) bill extending funding for the federal government and hope lawmakers will soon address other health care priorities. (Harper, 9/27)
Over the past months, as local governments strained their budgets to pay for the fight against Zika, Florida has left largely untapped a $27 million emergency preparedness fund from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and $8.4 million in federal grants — both of which can be used by the state to combat the virus. State officials insist nearly all of the money is simply part of Florida’s usual allocation from the CDC and doesn’t count as extra cash to help with anti-Zika efforts. (Chang, 9/26)
Three more locally transmitted cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus were reported Friday in Miami-Dade County as the overall number of such cases climbs toward 100. The Florida Department of Health said the three new cases are linked to an investigation into the spread of the disease in Miami Beach. In all, Florida has reported 95 locally transmitted cases of the virus, which is particularly dangerous to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects. (9/26)
When the International Congress of Entomology decided four years ago to hold its meeting in Orlando, the Zika virus was hardly on anyone's radar... Since early this year, there have been more than 3,300 travel-related cases of Zika infection in the United States and more than 19,700 local cases in U.S. territories. Researchers still aren't sure what catapulted the virus from obscurity to a major public health threat. Maybe the virus mutated, or maybe the area Northeast of Brazil, with large population and lack of good sanitation, provided it with an optimal environment to replicate and spread to rates that it hadn't before. (Miller, 9/26)
Sanofi SA said on Monday the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) approved $43.18 million in funding to accelerate the development of a Zika vaccine, as efforts to prevent the infection gather momentum. The funding from the HHS' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will be used for mid-stage trials, expected to begin in the first half of 2018, and for manufacturing, the French drugmaker said. (Grover, 9/26)
