Experts claim Christian teachings may hinder containment of Zika virus
With the Zika virus outbreak rapidly spreading throughout the American continent, experts have proposed the best way to minimize the damage of the disease is through abortion and contraception, but the Christian doctrine forbids both.
Abortion is entirely outlawed in five Latin American countries including Brazil, which currently has seen over 4,000 cases of babies born with microcephaly, an abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain.
The Zika virus is spread from a mosquito bite on the mother and then passed on to her baby during pregnancy or birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lack of access to contraception, limited education and high rates of rape have contributed to the spread of the disease.
Only 52% of the population of women in the region have access to birth control methods, Raw Story reported.
As reported by The Guardian, due to this dilemma, the WHO has now been triggered to conduct a research whether the virus is the cause of the large numbers of microcephaly cases and other congenital abnormalities in Brazil. The organization will also put resources to study how to prevent the virus from becoming a global catastrophe.
Professor of molecular virology at Nottingham University, Jonathan Ball, suggested the best prevention of the outbreak is to temporarily ban all travel to the countries affected until the communities can suffice immunity and the research would produce vaccines for the virus.
In the Philippines, Catholic Bishop Ruperto Santos warned Filipinos who were working abroad to take preventive measures against the virus. Spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the species were also responsible for different airborne virus outbreaks such as Dengue, Malaria, and other highly infectious diseases, as stated in UCA News.
In Pakistan, government officials now have provided information to generate awareness to the public. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia now have taken precaution as well.
