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As the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) prepares to announce its Latest Ebola outbreak endsA former US government official who led the response to the deadly virus in 2014 has warned wrath of the future may get out of control due to Donald Trump’s aid cuts,
Recently, Jeremy Konandik, an official in Joe Biden’s government and now president of Refugee International, told Independent He feared that “there will be larger and more complex outbreaks in the future that will spin out of control because the U.S. government’s health protection preparedness and response capacity is destroyed”.
the last Ebola patients in the current outbreak DRC The World Health Organization (WHO) said he was discharged from hospital on October 19, starting a 42-day countdown to declaring an outbreak if no further cases were confirmed. This is twice the maximum time it takes for symptoms to appear in someone exposed to the virus.
The Ebola virus is spread by animals to humans, and causes internal and external bleeding. The mortality rate ranges between 50 to 90 percent unless patients receive prompt treatment.
“If no new cases are detected, the outbreak will be declared over in early December,” WHO said.
While the outbreak was on its way to being controlled, “I think it’s important not to overinterpret its relevance in the context of the United States,” Konandik said.
When Trump took office in January, he cut all foreign aid by nearly 80 percent, including emergency response teams prepared to respond to disease outbreaks.
“As things go, this is a relatively more straightforward containment operation than other outbreaks you might see. It’s in a peaceful part of Congo. It’s in a country that has dealt with a lot before and it has a lot of potential. It has that potential because of the investments the US has made that are now being cut,” Konandik said.
The US previously provided local infectious disease experts, funded laboratories, vaccines and treatments, as well as training for prevention. Stock of things like medicines and personal protective equipment (PPE) is not being maintained.
“The progress and success evident so far in the current outbreak is built on the same investments that the Trump administration is now systematically dismantling,” Konandik said. This includes investments that were made by governments of different colors during Trump’s first administration. “He’s completely torn to pieces. He’s gone.”
Konandik said, “Fortunately the outbreak did not turn into something larger and more complex that could exceed those capabilities. But we cannot count on being lucky indefinitely.”
This time, other donors, including European countries, stepped in to fill the gap. However, countries in the rich world are set to cut foreign aid in the coming years.
And while the WHO is well-versed in leading the response to the pandemic, the UN health agency has also faced deep cuts, including in the US, this year, with more likely to come.
“I think it’s a question for the future,” Konandik said. “If the same outbreak occurs in two years’ time…will those capabilities still be at the same level as they are now?”
The outbreak began with a 34-year-old pregnant woman who was hospitalized in late August and died within five days. Two health workers treating him also got infected and died.
This is the sixteenth outbreak of Ebola in the country since the disease was first detected in the mid-70s.
International organizations are now withdrawing from the country, including Médecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) teams, which handed over their work on 19 October, the same day the last patient was discharged.
This article was produced as part of The Independent Rethinking global aid Project