(VOVworld) – The World Bank has pledged 150 million USD in financing for Latin America and the Caribbean to help fight the Zika disease. In a press release on Thursday, the World Bank said the virus could wipe about 3.5 billion USD off the region's economy in 2016.
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Argentina's Environment and Public Space Ministry fumigation brigade members, spay insecticide in an area of Saavedra Park, in an effort to control the Aedes aegypti mosquito, in Buenos Aires city, capital of Argentina, on Feb. 11, 2016. (Photo: Xinhua)
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According to the World Bank, these funds would also go towards combating mosquitoes, identifying people at risk, especially pregnant women, caring for babies during pregnancy and after birth, and promoting access to family planning.
Meanwhile, Panama’s Health Ministry said on Thursday that the mosquito-borne virus has spread in Panama beyond the remote coastal area it was previously confined to , bringing to 65 the number of diagnosed cases of Zika infection in the country.