(VOVworld) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the establishment of the UN Zika Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) to finance critical unfunded priorities in response to the Zika outbreak.

In Recife, Brazil, a 15-year-old mother holds her 4-month-old baby born with microcephaly, caused by the Zika virus. Photo: UNICEF/Ueslei Marcelino

The Fund, which aims to provide a rapid, flexible and accountable platform to support a coordinated response from the UN system and partners, will directly support the Zika Strategic Response Framework, developed by the World Health Organization. Donors will contribute to a central point and an Advisory Committee will direct funds to the highest-priority activities in the affected countries.

Since January 2015, 61 countries and territories have reported local transmission of Zika. The recent rise in the spread of the virus in some countries has been accompanied by an unprecedented rise in the number of children being born with unusually small heads – identified as microcephaly. Several countries have also reported an increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome – a neurological disorder that can lead to paralysis and death.