WHO rejects demand for shifting Olympic games out of Rio Zika virus threat

28 May, Geneva

World Health Organization, WHO on Saturday rejected a call from more than 100 leading scientists to move or postponed the Rio Olympic Games due to the threat posed by large outbreak of Zika virus in Brazil.

The United Nations health agency said having the Games in Rio as planned would not significantly alter the spread of Zika, which is linked to serious birth defects.

In a statement WHO said based on the current assessment of Zika virus circulating in almost 60 countries globally and 39 in the Americas, there is no public health justification for postponing or cancelling the games.

The best way to reduce risk of disease is to follow public health travel advice, it said.

The WHO advices pregnant women should not travel to areas with ongoing Zika virus transmission, including Rio de Janeiro.

It also advises everyone to make all efforts to protect against mosquito bites and to practice safe sex.

In an public letter posted online on Friday, around 150 leading public health experts, many of them bioethicists, said the risk of infection from the Zika virus is too high for the Games to go ahead safely.