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The United States has long been the world’s health leader, and it’s critical to the safety of Americans that it remains so — which is why some of President Trump’s isolationist push is worrisome.
On Monday, hours after taking office, Mr. Trump signed an executive order announcing that the United States would withdraw from the World Health Organization (something he had tried to do during his first term). , before Joe Biden reversed his decision to become president). His plans to impose huge tariffs on imported goods could harm the production of medicines within our borders, as many of the necessary ingredients are imported, including about 60 percent. then from India and China, according to a study.
The health of Americans is at risk. Border walls and security policies cannot prevent infectious diseases from entering the country. Only through vigilant international disease control, disease containment, and global disease eradication can Americans be protected and protected. We must prioritize distributing vaccines to other countries, training doctors to provide care abroad, collaborating on clinical trials and research with other institutions and sharing information about the virus. diseases and health trends around the world. And the United States must continue to lead.
Many see global health work as smart diplomacy. Even the most hostile countries welcome our medical expertise and support, because health protection is necessary for international security and the economy of each country. The first Trump administration pressed for active participation in the global health protection movement shortly after entering office. This has made it impossible for us to put in place a timely and strong response to the global spread of Covid-19, destroying the world economy and increasing conflicts around the world.
Since the end of World War II, the United States has been the world’s top leader in global health thanks to the Department of Health and Human Services’ global health program. -country, USAID, and dozens of organizations and non-profit groups, such as the Gates Foundation. . Many of its efforts have historically been organized under the auspices of the WHO, where members work together year-round to prevent infectious diseases, other vaccine programs that save lives and address problems such as mortality. mothers and Alzheimer’s disease that affects all countries.
US leaders have consistently criticized these efforts. Last year, the country led the team that successfully negotiated new amendments to the 2005 International Health Regulations, which govern rights, obligations and reporting requirements for 196 countries. These amendments are, in part, intended to strengthen WHO’s capacity to report and respond to epidemics. The US leader also helped lead a meeting between leaders of countries on the response to infectious diseases, tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance during the last meeting of the United Nations.
Although the WHO is in dire need of a reformed organizational and operational structure, leaving this global body, as Mr. Trump has said, would be a disaster. Its role is unparalleled in providing a timely response and deploying more resources when a public health crisis occurs.
For decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has helped train and deploy epidemiologists in different parts of the world to respond to new outbreaks and quickly identify them. and to address emerging pathogens long before they reach US borders. We saw the results of these efforts during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Lagos, Nigeria. Patient contacts were identified, isolated and visited by staff trained by the CDC and its partners—an effort that helped prevent Ebola from sweeping through the rest of Nigeria and affecting other countries in Africa and around the world.
HHS also led the government’s efforts to eradicate polio in partnership with the Gates Foundation and CDC staff overseas. Training local health workers, funding vaccination initiatives and encouraging vaccination efforts have resulted in India and Africa being certified polio-free, eradicating the disease from most of the corners of the earth.
Some argue that withdrawing from international cooperation on global health will not hurt the United States, and that it is possible to close our borders and restrict travel when the epidemic is known. But we live in an interconnected world: In addition to most pharmaceutical ingredients, about 15 percent of the country’s food supply is imported. About eight million Americans leave the country each month for business, tourism and family visits, and about 66 million international visitors travel across the country each year. By the time the travel ban for Covid-19 was put in place in the first Trump administration, the disease was already in the American community. It is foolish to believe that the country can protect itself from all epidemics without more proactive solutions.
In fact, the country is already facing an impact crisis in the form of bird flu. The disease ravaged livestock, spread rapidly among cattle, and even found its way to a few people. The number of hospitalizations (including the first recorded deaths) only adds to the fear.
There is still time for Mr. Trump to come to his senses and reverse. It is in the interest of national security – and vital to the health and well-being of the nation – that we continue to lead in global health.
Kathleen Sebelius, a two-term Democrat elected governor of Kansas, served as secretary of health and human services from 2009 to 2014.
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