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Letter: U.S. must lead Zika fight

By Brenda Rose, Vancouver
Published: May 18, 2016, 6:00am

As a champion for maternal health issues, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler’s support of Zika funding comes as no surprise, and her willingness to go against her party’s line on this issue is refreshing.

I’m afraid those who oppose the president’s Zika funding proposal suffer from short-sightedness; Zika is an imminent threat that, if not addressed pre-emptively, will become a devastating and far costlier crisis. The argument that the proposed Zika funding is not fiscally prudent holds no water; it is far more cost-effective to address such a threat before it becomes a crisis.

Zika has quickly become a global health issue — the likes of which the U.S. is not accustomed to. We are a highly developed and fairly insular nation, and we’re being thrown into a potential crisis that rivals what most developing countries struggle with regularly. The difference is that we have the infrastructure and wherewithal to address the threat; only apathy and short-sightedness seem to be standing in our way. As with most global health issues, it takes a far-sighted approach and, if possible, a pre-emptive attack to effect change.

I’d like to see our government tackle the domestic Zika threat head-on, and then continue that momentum by using our position as a global leader to assist in the sustainable and pre-emptive undertaking of other global health (and particularly global maternal health) issues. Zika virus should be a reminder that we aren’t an insular nation, but part of an increasingly global world.

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