ZikaPolicyProposal

EmmaHarrington
10/5
Problem

TheZikavirushasbecomecommoninmanyplacesaroundtheworld.Thereare
currently59countriesthathavereportedcasesofthetheZikavirus,accordingtothe
CDC.Sofartherehavebeen3,818reportedcasesintheU.S.,butthatnumberis
steadilyincreasing.Luckilythesymptomsarenotmuchmorethanthecommonflu.It
hasbeenknowntocauserashesandothersymptomsaswell,buttheyareuncommon.
Thereasonitissuchanissueistheconnectiontoneurologicaldefectsinapregnant
woman'sfetus.Microsephilisisthediseasethatismostdirectlyconnectedtothevirus.
Thisisaseverebirthdefectthatcausesafetus'sbraintonotmaturecorrectlyand
causesseveresideeffects.WhilethishasbeenproventobeaffiliatedwiththeZika
virus,scientistshaveyettofigureoutwhytheviruscausesthisparticulardefect.Thisis
onlyoneofmanywonderingsthescientificcommunityhasaboutthevirus.Zikais
spreadinggloballyandtheredoesn'tappeartobeawaytostopit.Tobeabletostop
thisterriblevirusitmustfirstbeunderstood.

Solution

TohelpunderstoodZikaissuemoneymustbegivenformorescientificresearch.
Therearetwomainplacesthatthismoneycouldcomefrom,thegovernmentand
privateorganizations.Currentlythemilitarygetsthemajorityofthegovernment's
money.AccordingtotheNationalPrioritiesProject,Infiscalyear2015,military
spendingisprojectedtoaccountfor54percentofa
llfederaldiscretionaryspending,a
totalof$598.5billion.Thisisanexcessiveamountofmoneythatcouldbebetterputto
usesomewhereelse.Alongwithmovingmoneyfromthemilitary,smallersumscouldbe
movedfromotherplacesaswell.Governmentfundsarefrequentlymovedaroundandif
Zikaisputhigherupontheprioritylistthenextramoneycouldbeallocatedto.Any
amountofmoneyputtowardsZikaresearchwillincreasetheoddsoffindingavaccine
forthisdisease.
Anothersourceoffundingforresearchinprivatecompanies.Thereisalotof
researchthatisbeingdoneondiseasesthatarelessurgent.Themoneyusedtofund
thatresearchcouldbeshiftedtowardslearningmoreabouttheZikavirus.Additional
sourcescouldincludegrantsandtappingintoothermiscellaneousfunding.Some
organizationstolookatforfundingwouldbeTheNationalScienceFoundationandThe
NationalInstitutesofHealthOfficeofExtramuralResearch.Ifmoneywasabletobe
acquiredfromalloftheseplaces,itwillgoalongwayinacceleratingthenecessary
worktowardsunderstandingZika.

ZikaPolicyProposal
EmmaHarrington
10/5

Counterarguments

Thissolutionisnotguaranteedtoworkandwouldnothaveapositiveeffectfast
enough.Vaccinestakealongtimetocreateandthenecessaryresearchwouldtakea
longtimetoget.Thissolutionisnotimmediateandtheproblemisbecomingmore
urgenteveryday.Evenifavaccineiscreateditwouldstillhavetobedistributedwhich
wouldtakeevenmoretime.Althoughitmaytaketime,researchisalongtermsolution
insteadofashorttermsolution.Thereareothersolutionsthatmaybefaster,butthey
wouldnotgivedoctorsanywaytounderstanditandifanymutationsweretooccur
withintheviruseverythingwouldhavetostartfromscratch.Theothersolutionsthat
wouldtakeeffectimmediatelyaresolutionsthatwoulddisruptthegeneralpublic,such
asquarantiningpeoplewithZika.Thiswouldhaveanimmediateeffect,butwouldonly
delaythevirusinsteadofobliteratingit.

Implications

TheimplicationofdivertingsignificantfundingtowardsZikawouldbeincreased
researchandwouldhelptomakevaccinesfasterandbetterresponsestooutbreak.
Oneofthefirststepswouldbetofindhighlyqualifiedscientistsanddoctorstodothis
research.Theresearchwouldbesplitintotwopieces.Onewouldbetolookatthe
actualvirusandfindoutwhyitdoeswhatitdoesandwhyitcausestheneurological
effects.Thesecondpiecewouldbetotestandcreateavaccinetotrytoeradicatethe
virus.ThepeoplewhocarryoutthisresearchwouldideallyalreadyknowZikarelatively
well,beamixofdoctorsandscientists,andworksolelyonthisproject.
Determininghowmuchmoneywouldbeneededtoconductthisresearchisan
importantpartofgettingtheeffortstarted.Oncethepayforeachpersonisdecidedthe
restofthecostsshouldbeanalyzed.Oneofthekeycostsofthisprojectwouldbe
payingthesalariesoftheresearchersonit.Thesecostsincludespaceforwork,travel,
andmaterials.Therewouldhavetobeafacilityforpeopletoworkin.Thisplacewould
needtohavealaboratoryinwhichtodotestsalongwithaspacefortheresearchtobe
collected.Onceallofthesecostsarecalculated,thefinalstepisgettingthenecessary
fundsandbeginningtheresearch.

Conclusion

Alltogether,Zikaisalargeproblembecauseitiscausingsicknessandsevere
birthdefectsthroughouttheworld.Thereiscurrentlynovaccinebecausethereisa

ZikaPolicyProposal
EmmaHarrington
10/5
hugelackofresearch.Thisproblemstemsfromanabsenceofgoodfundsand
resourcestogettheresearchupandrunning.IfZikawasbetterunderstood,thena
vaccineandothertreatmentscouldbecreated.OnlyasmallportionofU.S.taxmoney
goestowardsscience.Mostofthediscretionarymoneygoestowardsthemilitaryand
couldbereroutedtosciencesolvingtheZikaproblem.Ifthisnationwantstobeatthe
Zikavirus,,itneedstotakeimmediateactioninfindingmoneytoberesearchingthe
ZikaepidemicvirusandsolvingtheZikaepidemic.

Bibliography:
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/militaryspendingunitedstates/
http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/unitedstates.html
https://www.nsf.gov/
https://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/activecountries.html