The Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, on Sunday said the work and public health excellence of the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention must be protected.
His remarks come in the wake of leadership changes at the U.S. CDC.
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene had also expressed deep concern over recent layoffs and high-profile resignations among senior leadership at the U.S. CDC, as well as the very recent House of Representatives appropriations proposal for a 20 per cent funding cut to the CDC.
The ASTMH said the CDC has long been a cornerstone of public health in the United States and a global leader in disease prevention, outbreak response, and health research. Leadership instability and the departure of experienced public health professionals threaten to undermine the agency’s mission at a time when strong, evidence-based guidance is needed more than ever.
CDC is the U.S.’s leading science-based, data-driven, service organisation that protects the public’s health.
The WHO DG in a post on X stated that the US CDC has long been a centre of excellence, and many countries have emulated it to establish similar institutions by adopting its best practices.
“When I was Ethiopia’s Health Minister, I sent a team to Atlanta to learn from the U.S CDC, and a significant part of what the Ethiopian Public Health Agency does is based on these best practices.
“The establishment of the Africa CDC, which I proposed at the African Union summit in Abuja in 2013 when I was Foreign Minister, was also inspired by the U.S CDC.
“Through global cooperation, many countries have not only learned from the U.S CDC, but they have also chosen to use the name ‘CDC’ for their national institutes,” he said.
Ghebreyesus noted that the WHO has had a close and longstanding partnership with the U.S CDC, which has ensured that Americans and people around the world benefit from the best American science, while at the same time providing the U.S with access to global health data, alerts, experience, and guidance from other countries.
“No institution is perfect, and continued improvements are always needed to make sure the latest science and evidence are applied to emerging challenges in real time. But the work of the US CDC has been invaluable and must be protected,” he emphasised.
In January, President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of the US from WHO.
