Google donates $1 million to fight virus

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March 3, 2016 2:51 PM

Following the declaration by the World Health Organisation WHO that Zika virus is a global emergency, Google.org announced today, March 3, 2016 that it will be donating a $1 million to fight Zika virus.

Following the declaration by the

Google’s Director, Jacquelline Fuller stated that the donation is intended at supporting vaccine research and also to work with the government and communities for the prevention and cure of Zika.

Read: 9 persons infected with virus in Canada

Fuller also reportedly said that the organization has volunteered a team of engineers, data scientists and designers to help UNICEF organize the data they collect on the ground to make it more digestible to the public and other organizations working to combat Zika.

“As a company whose mission is helping people find information, with a lot of experience in analyzing large sets of data, we’re in a good position to help—at scale and at speed,” says Google.org Director Jacquelline Fuller.

Read: FG saves N18.3bn in six weeks from removal

“Ultimately, the goal of this open source platform is to identify the risk of Zika transmission for different regions and help UNICEF, governments and NGO’s decide how and where to focus their time and resources.

“This set of tools is being prototyped for the Zika response, but will also be applicable to future emergencies,” Fuller added.

Google launched a campaign to help match employee donations with a goal of providing an additional $500,000 for UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization.

Read: No case of virus in South Africa yet

YouTube which is owned by Google has a progressive plan to also join in creating awareness.

Most recently, the first case in Slovakia was recorded.

According to reports, on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 a Slovak woman returning from South America was diagnosed to have the virus.

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