Head of UN agency warns potentially adverse effects of Zika on health of women, babies

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said on Thursday it was closely monitoring the outbreak of the Zika virus and warning about its potentially adverse effects on the health of women and babies, particularly in Latin America.

"We are also closely monitoring its possible spread to other regions," Babatunde Osotimehin, the executive director of the UNFPA, said in a statement issued here.

"UNFPA will continue to lead efforts to promote widespread information about the virus and about voluntary family planning," it said.

Given reported cases of Zika virus transmission through sexual contact, the role of UNFPA is ever more pertinent as the world's leading agency on reproductive and maternal health, and the biggest public sector supplier of family planning commodities, including condoms, said the statement.

"Women and girls should be able to make informed decisions about their reproductive health and family planning methods, and to protect themselves and their babies if they decide to be pregnant," the statement said.

The UNFPA will continue to work with countries around the world to scale up access to information and to a wide range of voluntary family planning commodities so that women can make informed decisions and protect themselves, the statement added.

Zika virus, which is spreading through the Americas, has been linked to babies being born with underdeveloped brains.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the microcephaly condition, linked to the mosquito-borne virus, a global public health emergency. Enditem