500 signatures reached
To: Trump administration, Department of Health and Human Services
Let Disease Experts Do Their Job!
The ongoing Ebola outbreak could rapidly grow to be one of the worst in history as the disease spreads swiftly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The World Health Organization (WHO) classified it as “a public health emergency of international concern.” Hundreds of people have died as the number of infections rises.
The Trump administration has eroded the U.S.’s ability to most effectively respond to international global health crises, withdrawing us from the WHO, cutting the Centers for Disease Control staff, and gutting the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
And now they are blocking disease experts at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from communicating openly with the WHO in order to share information and updates.
We need to do everything in our power to swiftly and strategically address the Ebola outbreak, and that means coordinating with international partners. The Trump administration must put public health first and allow NIAID to do its job!
Why is this important?
This is only the ninth time in history that the WHO has classified an outbreak as “a public health emergency of international concern,” and already the outbreak is the third-worst Ebola outbreak ever recorded.
Trump has already eroded and undermined our public health infrastructure. Cuts to contact tracing, disease surveillance, and vaccine funding have left us underprepared for an outbreak of this magnitude. And while emergency funding and disaster response relief have been approved, we are playing catch-up to a disease that is rapidly spreading.
And the Trump administration’s appointed acting head of the NIAID stepped down in the midst of this crisis, leaving a gap in leadership when we need it most.
Given the circumstances, it is as imperative as ever that experts have the most up-to-date information, resources, and guidance in order to tackle this outbreak in coordination with global leaders. And that means allowing disease experts in NIAID to have open communication with the WHO.
We don’t have time to wait. Tell the Trump administration to lift restrictions preventing NIAID staff from openly communicating and coordinating with the WHO now!