Even as the world is racing to contain the deadly Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Trump administration is moving ahead with a plan that could decimate support for programs that detect and snuff out exactly such outbreaks.
The new plan, proposed by the State Department, aims to overhaul the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s work on a landmark global H. I. V. program that also helps countries manage surveillance for emerging diseases, strengthen laboratory networks and support childhood immunizations.
If the plan goes into effect on Oct. 1 as scheduled, it would effectively shut the agency out of overseeing many global health programs and shift control over the bulk of funds and decisions to the State Department.
The changes may sideline the country’s premier experts on global health and could lead to the closure of about a third of its 60 country offices within the next three years, according to some officials with knowledge of the programs.
“This is the end of autonomy and independence and long-term capacity at the C. D. C. for work in global health,” said Dr. Atul Gawande, a former head of global health at the U. S. Agency for International Development and a professor at Harvard Medical School.
The proposal is intended to diminish the agency’s authority in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, a program credited with saving 26 million lives since it was created by the administration of President George W. Bush in 2003. Before 2025, U. S. A. I. D.
managed more than half of PEPFAR’s budget, and the C. D. C. handled much of the rest. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
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