The Ebola outbreak spreading throughout Central Africa is the first major outbreak since the Trump administration demolished its global health programs and largely withdrew from the world stage last year.
Experts say the absence is palpable.
While the U.S. is sending resources and teams of experts overseas, public health and infectious disease experts say President Trump’s cuts are undermining the response and likely delayed detection of the virus.
Abraham Leno, director of government relations for the humanitarian organization Alight, has led extensive efforts in fighting outbreaks in Congo.
He said the loss of support from the U.S. has impacted other international and local organizations that relied on the funding for training and physician services for an eventual outbreak.
“It has disrupted the ability for that contact tracing to happen, for those preventive activities to be mounted very well,” Leno said. “That’s not [only] the result of the loss of USAID, that’s just the chaos and insecurity of the country.”
Leno noted that the lack of funding has “squeezed” other partners to provide what the U.S. normally would have covered, such as personal protective equipment and contact tracing. He noted that the loss of USAID signified more than just a loss of funding.
“So, what USAID provided, the U.S. government provided, is not just the funding,” he said. “It’s also the capability that it formed with credible alliances and credible partnerships that were formed with other governments.”
