Too Little Too Late: Zika Funding Falls Short Despite Pleas

Congress just granted a billion dollars to fight the war on the Zika virus, and even though most people believe that it's too little and much too late, the Health and Human Services Department is assured everyone that the money will be well spent.

CNN reported that the department secretary, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, along with other key public health officials declared that they did not wait for legislations to come up with a budget because "the threat was too great." Instead, they redirected hundreds of millions of dollars from other priority funds to control activities and vaccine, as well as look after diagnostic research and development.

The money that they redirected could not be recovered either. Burwell shared that the damage occurred because of the funds they took will continue to take its tall. She also added, "Throughout the entire department we won't be able to backfill, whether it's from our Ebola research or funds that we had to take from the Administration for Children and Families or SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)."

President Barack Obama called for the congress to provide funds for the fight against Zika back in February, but partisan arguments kept the issue on a lockdown. It wasn't until the disease found its way to the US mainland that congress acted and allocated for the $1.1 million - far less than the $1.9 billion asked for.

Assistant HHS Secretary Nicole Lurie mentioned that there was a need to start work early on in the outbreak, especially with outside companies that could help bring a vaccine or a rapid diagnostic test to the market, but because of the delay of the funds, manufactures have walked away from negotiations. The Washington Post detailed the amounts to be received by various health departments, drug manufacturers, and research groups. If things go as planned, then additional funds may be released to allow the next phase of research for finally stopping Zika.