The CDC's decision to cut global epidemic prevention efforts amid funding concerns could put Americans' health at risk, Tom Frieden, MD, former CDC director under President Barack Obama, told CNN Monday.
The agency plans to reduce epidemic prevention efforts in 39 of the 49 previously prioritized nations. CDC officials made the decision amid uncertainty as to whether the Trump administration would make new resources available to continue the agency's global epidemic prevention efforts.
"We can either help other countries stop disease outbreaks abroad or fight them here at home," Dr. Frieden told CNN. "If funding for global health security isn't found, CDC will have to retreat from the front lines of fighting not terrorism but terrible organisms in 30 countries … Not only would this set back scientific, technical and diplomatic relationships that have taken years to develop, it would significantly increase the chance an epidemic will spread without our knowledge and endanger lives in our country and around the world."
The international disease prevention efforts, which began under Dr. Frieden, have been largely supported by $600 million made available to the agency in 2014 to fight the Ebola crisis. These funds are set to expire in September 2019.
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