Foreign Policy: Ebola Is Back. And Trump Is Trying to Kill Funding for It.
Laurie Garrett, former senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations

“As U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, the White House discreetly released an official proposal to cut funding for children’s health programs, Medicare, and Ebola responses. The two policies may seem unrelated, but they share the same basic design — assuming vast national security risks simply for the sake of dismantling former President Barack Obama’s legacy. … Trump’s decision to eliminate the Ebola funds was announced at nearly the same time as the World Health Organization issued a bulletin declaring a new outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. … There is no good reason to rescind the $252 million in funds to combat the deadly virus, at a time when there are signs of a renewed outbreak that could pose a threat to Americans, except if the goal is to destroy a program created by Obama … Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his disdain for science, services for the poor, diplomacy, and foreign assistance. … He has no one in his inner circle to explain how a program for hospital hygiene in Monrovia, Liberia, decreases the likelihood that a traveler unknowingly infected with a dangerous pathogen will turn up in a hospital in Dallas. Members of Congress should reject Trump’s entire rescission package, as it does nothing to reduce the deficit they created with their enormous tax cut package and everything to harm the health and safety of the American people” (5/9).