Africa’s foremost public health official is set to communicate with the U.S. Secretary of State on Thursday, emphasizing the critical threat posed by the U.S. aid freeze to the lives of individuals across the continent and the ongoing efforts to manage disease outbreaks that could eventually affect Americans.
Jean Kaseya, the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), plans to express his concerns to Marco Rubio regarding the implications for patients suffering from diseases such as HIV and the heightened risk of an mpox pandemic, exacerbated by conflict in eastern Congo, as reported by Reuters.
“I was alarmed when I learned about the funding pause,” Kaseya stated. “How can we effectively address the numerous outbreaks if we lack the necessary financial resources?”
Over the weekend, Kaseya reached out to African leaders, cautioning that without immediate action to address the financial shortfalls resulting from the U.S. aid freeze and reductions in aid from other governments, the continent could see an additional 2-4 million preventable deaths annually.
“This funding pause will have repercussions not only for Africa but also for the U.S.,” he warned, indicating that disease outbreaks will proliferate without adequately funded initiatives to combat them.
Kaseya also noted that ongoing conflicts are jeopardizing health responses in various regions of Africa, a point he raised in both letters.
The violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has hindered responses to mpox, measles, and cholera outbreaks. For instance, millions of mpox vaccine doses, including those donated by Japan for children, remain stranded in Kinshasa due to the security issues in Goma.
“The U.S. and others must remember the lessons learned from COVID. Ignoring ongoing issues in Africa could lead to a virus mutation that results in a pandemic affecting us all,” Kaseya cautioned.
The U.S. aid pause and funding freeze have left the Africa CDC with a shortfall of approximately $200 million in its efforts to combat mpox, part of the originally pledged $1.1 billion.
