The 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are set to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this summer, but major health concerns are causing a panic for people all over the world. Many are scoffing at the idea of a mosquito-born illness stopping the historical international competition, but this illness is steadily becoming more dangerous as games approach. Amir Attaran, a professor from the University of Alberta, is speaking out in the Harvard Public Health Review about Zika and asserting that the Olympics should be postponed or moved. He offers five very good reasons as to why the Olympics must not go on in the current state of Brazil's health crisis.
The first reason given by Attaran is that the Zika virus has impacted Brazil and Rio de Janeiro in particular, in far greater and complicated ways than scientists first projected earlier this year. He mentions that all previous projections and figures about Zika virus are invalid because the projections did not account for how well Zika is thriving in Rio at the moment. Earlier this year, scientists in Brazil claimed that their projections were valid and that the games would be safe, but their claims cannot be supported now that new data and statistics prove the gravity of the Zika situation in Brazil.
His second point is that Zika may have been discovered and researched very quickly seventy years ago, but the strain we see in Brazil is new, unique, and acts very differently than its "old" counterpart. The virus has evolved, changed and brought about new consequences that were never before seen in any other cases. It came to Brazil from French Polynesia in 2013, and since then it has moved quickly and strongly throughout the world.
The third argument made by Attaran is that, if the Olympics proceed, then the estimated 500,000 fans and athletes pouring into Rio de Janeiro now multiply the chances of Zika spreading throughout the world. All of these travelers run the risk of becoming infected and then going back to their respective countries and infecting other citizens through Aedes mosquito and sexual transmission.
Attaran's fourth discussion point is that the addition of all of these tourists to Brazil not only increases their risk of infection and therefore other citizens, but also forces researchers to find a vaccine and treatment far quicker, which is a problem. Scientists need time to understand this illness and find a suitable vaccine to combat its vast effects on the human body. If so many tourists flock into Rio, this could become a global epidemic that demands a quick cure for which researchers need more time to develop.
The final point of Attaran's argument for the postponing or cancellation of the Olympics is that proceeding with the games goes against the mission and motto of the event. As he points out, the International Olympic Committee's statement for every year of Olympics is that "Olympism seeks to create... social responsibility and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles." He discusses how proceeding with the games is not socially responsible or ethical at all. A medical crisis is clearly on our hands in Rio and other parts of the world and continuing with the games and inviting thousands of foreigners into the crisis zone is not at all responsible.
I have to agree with Dr. Attaran completely. I love the Olympics just as much as the next person, but I cannot see how proceeding with the games in Rio makes any sense at all. We have seen the terrible consequences of Zika in the congenital brain defects in newborn babies and its connection to pregnancy. We know what it is doing to children who have no control over what is happening to them, and there are now links to problems in the nervous system of adults affected by Zika.
I would never even think of sending my friends and family into Brazil at this time due to the terrifying affects I have seen Zika bring about, so I would urge the members of the International Olympic Committee to think the same way. This committee has the power to assist in the avoidance of a worldwide health crisis. I hope they do not think only of the profits and benefits of proceeding with the games, but rather the health and safety of people around the globe.
