Foreign Aid Helps Keep Americans Healthy

Forbes: Bill Gates Is Right, USAID Is Not Just Foreign Aid, It Aids The U.S.
Bruce Y. Lee, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, executive director of the Global Obesity Prevention Center, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, and director of operations research at the International Vaccine Access Center

“…[In an op-ed for TIME, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,] went on to explain that USAID work helps prevent and control epidemics such as the Ebola outbreak and the spread of HIV/AIDS, create[s] jobs for Americans and people around the world, strengthens markets for U.S. goods, and protect[s] Americans such as our military members. In other words, foreign aid actually helps improve the health of Americans. … The challenge is that not everyone may realize the far-reaching benefits of USAID’s programs because its programs involve such complex systems and a plethora of direct and indirect effects (e.g., improving health systems in low- and middle-income countries in Africa reduces the risk of a disease outbreak that could eventually lead to a global pandemic that otherwise would affect all Americans). … In the end, USAID is an investment, and the emphasis should be on the word development. Not investing in America’s established place in the world will eventually make America sick…” (3/18).

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