With public money short, private sector helps fight Zika
South Florida awaits federal, state funding
A pharmaceutical giant volunteered its sales reps to educate doctors about Zika. Charities are fundraising to buy medical screening equipment. And a company will hand out mosquito traps free of charge.
As South Florida waits for long-delayed federal and state money to trickle in, the private sector has stepped up to help ward off fast-spreading Zika, the mosquito-borne virus that causes fevers in adults and can lead to severe birth defects in babies born to Zika-infected mothers.
Congress fought all summer over a $1.1 billion bill to fund Zika response. While lawmakers in Washington and Tallahassee tussled over how to use existing federal funds, local officials fronted the money to control the Zika-carrying mosquitos that have already shown up in Florida’s densely populated Miami-Dade County.
Officials in Miami-Dade expect to spend up to $12 million on mosquito control by the time mosquito season ends around Nov. 30. But the county has received just $4.1 million from the state and nothing from the federal government. Eventually Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez expects the state and federal governments will pay the county back, but it can’t come soon enough. “Reimbursement can always be done faster,” Gimenez said.
The funding delays, however aggravating to local officials, come as little surprise to the private entities, said Thomas Bognanno, president of Community Health Charities, which, along with the March of Dimes, is leading a group of philanthropic organizations to launch a national fundraising drive this week to help purchase medical equipment, now in short supply, to diagnose and treat people infected by the virus and conduct educational campaign,
“It’s government. It takes time,” said Thomas Bognanno, president of Community Health Charities. “If money was allocated today, it wouldn’t be there tomorrow.”
Community Health Charities, which raises money from employees at companies, will work with the March of Dimes and the CDC Foundation, a non-profit branch of the federal agency that
works on public-private partnerships to address health issues.
Government is often limited in how quickly it can help in public health emergencies, Bognanno said. Private entities and citizens have always helped, he said.
Among the private entities is Pfizer, the New York-based pharmaceutical company famous for Viagra. The company said Monday it will contribute $4.1 million to provide contraceptives, help local communities test pregnant women for the virus, and use its sales people to educate medical professionals.
But most of the funds dedicated to combating the virus, which is expected to continue spreading around the continental U.S. in the coming years, are still far from reaching the people who need it most. David Hedge, a political science professor at the University of Florida, said government agencies can respond quickly to natural disasters, but don’t respond as well to public health emergencies like Zika.
“What you see is a mixture of politics and bureaucracy,” Hedge said. “A lot of what slows you down is partisan bickering over issues.” The holdup has several causes. Such political fights were common throughout the summer, as Zika spread in three Miami neighborhoods and threatened to push farther north. It took Congress several months to pass a $1.1 billion funding Zika response and research programs because the bill became a vehicle for other squabbles, including an argument over whether Planned Parenthood should receive some of that funding.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, repeatedly chastised the Democratic administration of President Obama for sending insufficient funds to help in the Zika fight. Scott said the state needs more Zika testing kits from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, funding to develop a vaccine, and guidance on the best methods for mosquito control.
“The federal government is not being a good partner,” Scott said in Miami last month.
“What you see is a mixture of politics and bureaucracy. A lot of what slows you down is partisan bickering over issues.” David Hedge, political science professor at the University of Florida