Google gives $1M grant, engineers to fight Zika virus

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Google is taking steps to combat the spread of Zika in Brazil and throughout Latin America.

The Internet giant’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, is giving a $1 million grant to UNICEF. The grant is earmarked to raise awareness of the mosquito-borne virus, reduce mosquito populations, develop diagnostics and vaccines and work with communities and governments to prevent disease transmission. Google also has launched a matching campaign for Google employees with the goal of providing an additional $500,000 to UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization.

To map and anticipate the spread of the virus, Google has assigned a team of engineers, data scientists and designers to work with UNICEF to analyze data such as weather and travel patterns.

Source: USA Today (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care
Tags
healthcare technology, infectious diseases