--- description: The Obama administration will put $81 million toward fighting the Zika virus title: Obama Administration Moves $81 Million to Fight Zika image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Zika](/tag/zika/) ## Zika Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Obama Administration Moves $81 Million to Fight Zika by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 11, 2016 7:39 PM CUT by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 11, 2016 7:39 PM CUT The Obama administration will put $81 million toward fighting the [Zika virus](http://time.com/4318624/zika-virus-and-birth-defects-what-you-need-to-know/ "undefined"). The administration plans to shift the money from the Department of Health and Human Services, a letter from HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell sent Thursday said. [The Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/08/11/obama-administration-to-shift-81-million-to-fight-zika/?wpisrc=al%5Falert-politics "undefined") reports that Burwell told Congressional leaders she intends to transfer $34 million from other programs at the National Institute of Health and $47 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority budget. Burwell said the two programs would likely run out of money by the end of the month to fight off the [spread of Zika](http://time.com/4304583/what-every-woman-need-to-know-about-zika/ "undefined"), and would need $538 million over the next year. Funding for Zika has become a [point of contention recently](http://time.com/4445518/zika-florida-four-more-cases/ "undefined"), as the virus spreads in the U.S. Florida currently has more than [380 cases of Zika](http://time.com/4447110/zika-virus-florida-rick-scott/ "undefined"), and state Governor Rick Scott has repeatedly called on Congress to provide funding to combat the virus. The administration is seeking $1.9 billion to fight Zika, according to the _Post_, but Congress remains deadlocked over the matter. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4449059/obama-administration-money-fight-zika/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4449059/obama-administration-money-fight-zika/"},"headline":"Obama Administration Moves $81 Million to Fight Zika","datePublished":"2016-08-11T19:39:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:56:15.737Z","description":"The administration plans to shift the money from the Department of Health and Human Services","url":"https://time.com/4449059/obama-administration-money-fight-zika/","keywords":["Zika"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/zika/","name":"Zika"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4449059/obama-administration-money-fight-zika/","name":"Obama Administration Moves $81 Million to Fight Zika"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Florida Governor Speaks Out on Zika Outbreak","description":"Florida Governor Rick Scott speaks out and assures the public the recent Florida Zika outbreak is locally concentrated to two cities.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CUdEl3kx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-07-29T15:54:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CUdEl3kx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4449059/obama-administration-money-fight-zika/","duration":"PT43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4449059/obama-administration-money-fight-zika/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```