Amid shifting politics, can we build stable global health systems?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey, it's Flora, and you're listening to Science Friday.
How did the 2019–2023 Ebola outbreaks escalate in DRC and Uganda?
An outbreak of the Bundibuja virus in eastern Congo and Uganda has become the third largest Ebola outbreak on record. The Africa CDC warned that if the virus is not halted, it could become even more deadly than the 2014 to 2016 outbreak that killed 11,000 people, primarily in West Africa. The U.S. CDC has deployed some staff and funding, but generally the Trump administration has divested in foreign public health, leaving WHO, dismantling USAID. So the question we're asking is, what role should the U.S. play? Here with me is Dr. John Kangasong. He has a one of a kind perspective. And let me just run through a bit of his bio. John was born in Cameroon. He got his Ph.D. in Europe and worked on HIV AIDS for the U.S.
CDC at a field station in Cote d'Ivoire and then in Atlanta and was the founding director of the Africa CDC.
What international and regional actors are responding to the Ebola outbreak?
There are very few people in the world who have led and thought as deeply about public health initiatives across the continent of Africa as John. So I'm very, very glad to have him here with us today. Thank you for being here.
Thank you.
Let's start with Ebola. What international response are we seeing and what do you think we should be seeing?
What we are seeing with respect to this current Ebola outbreak in
Should the United States maintain leadership in global health responses?
The Democratic Republic of Congo, commonly called DRC, is African leadership, where the country, Congo itself, is leading an extraordinary response, supported by their own resources, the assets that they've accumulated over the years. Remember, this is the 17th or so outbreak in that country. We're also seeing the regional WHO, World Health Organization, and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention playing an extraordinary role. The Africa Centers for Disease Control, which we'll call in this conversation Africa CDC, just convened a meeting of head of states in Africa to rally them around this outbreak because it's a serious health security threat. So we are seeing that. At a global front, we are seeing the coalescing of assets, and the WHO Geneva is leading that coordination.
The UNICEF is leading that coordination. Philanthropists like the Gates Foundation, the MasterCard Foundation are supporting. So we are seeing a multi-layered response to this outbreak. But again, what is important and pleasing to me is the leadership that The government of the Congo is exercising. I just spoke with the minister of her this morning, early this morning at 7.30, and we're exchanging ideas on how it is going there. So really, this is the kind of leadership that we have been saying we want to see in the regions and want to see in the countries.
And this is a change, right? Because in 2014, the Africa CDC did not exist.
Absolutely. In disease outbreaks, when you do that call and how you do the call is so important. So that is the extra advantage of having regional authorities, health authorities that can look at a backyard and say, hey, look, there's fire in my backyard and I need to do something with it rather than wait for an organization in Geneva to say, look, it looks like you have fire in your backyard. We need to do something.
That said, do you think the U.S. should be playing a different role in this outbreak?
The United States has always been a champion, a leader in global health with a distant second. And that has made the world a better place. It has created trust.
How did John Nkengasong’s early career lead him into virology and global health?
Trust is what connects all of us as humanity. And that leadership has been recognized at several levels. Where we are today with respect to the control of HIV AIDS because the leadership of the United States exercised when President Bush went to Congress and said, I want to create an emergency response plan for the world. And he created the PEPFAR and then the Global Fund. So look at where we are with the trajectory of that. There used to be about 4 million deaths a year. It's mostly in Africa. And today, look at where we are. About 600,000 deaths and could do more. Polio. We are where we are with polio and aiming at elimination or eradication because of the leadership of the United States.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–0:05
2
How did the 2019–2023 Ebola outbreaks escalate in DRC and Uganda?
0:05–1:05
3
What international and regional actors are responding to the Ebola outbreak?
1:05–1:35
4
Should the United States maintain leadership in global health responses?
1:35–3:50
5
How did John Nkengasong’s early career lead him into virology and global health?
3:50–4:59
6
Why did Nkengasong leave Europe to build lab capacity in Cote d’Ivoire?
4:59–6:46
7
What lessons from the HIV/AIDS response can inform other disease fights?
6:46–9:26
8
How can global health systems be made resilient amid political shifts?
9:26–17:54
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Science Friday
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