Publishers And Funders Back Sharing Of Zika Data

Recognizing an emerging public health crisis, an international group of 30 scientific publishers and funders have agreed to share information related to the Zika virus.

Publishers of journals including Science, Nature, and the New England Journal of Medicine will make all Zika-related content available for free and lift any restrictions on data sharing that might otherwise prevent publication. Research funders will set up ways for scientists to share data as quickly and as widely as possible with other researchers, public health officials, and the World Health Organization.

Those signing on include national science agencies in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, and Japan as well as nonprofits such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“We are committed to working in partnership to ensure that the global response to public health emergencies is informed by the best available research evidence and data,” a joint statement from the 30 organizations said.

The Zika virus, spread by mosquitoes, has been linked with microcephaly—a small head and brain—in some babies whose mothers were infected with it.