John Juma

The past six days have been devastating for APHL and the broader global health community. APHL was forced to make the extremely difficult decision to halt all global public health work supported by the U.S. government, directly affecting over 100 employees. Our work has been essential to U.S. national security, pandemic prevention, and countering global adversaries in next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics. We have led critical efforts in laboratory testing and surveillance for HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, polio, antimicrobial resistance, viral hemorrhagic fevers, mosquito-borne infections, novel respiratory viruses, and much more. Over the past four years, I have had the privilege of building one of the most talented, compassionate, and dedicated teams in global health. My colleagues are family, and I do not say that lightly. I have witnessed their tireless commitment—countless hours of effort, resilience, and sacrifice—all to protect global and domestic public health. Now, all of that progress is at risk. Even with a “temporary” 90-day review, re-establishing these programs will require a herculean effort. Trust, built over decades, cannot simply be restored overnight. And with every day of inaction, we lose ground—facing an Ebola outbreak in Uganda, a Marburg outbreak in Tanzania, and other global health threats just a plane ride away from the U.S. There is a common metaphor in global public health: "Public health is like being on a sinking ship. We can bail out water on our side, but if others can't do the same, we're all still going down together." This pause will have lasting, irreparable consequences. Both U.S. and global public health will suffer. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that three questions must be answered affirmatively for foreign aid: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous? For our global health work, the answer to all three is an unequivocal YES. In his January 20, 2025, Executive Order withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization, President Trump directed the government to “identify credible and transparent United States and international partners to assume necessary activities previously undertaken by the WHO.” This is exactly what APHL does. After reviewing foreign aid, I am confident that our work will be recognized as vital to the United States. But in the interim, we risk losing momentum, critical expertise, and the most dedicated public health professionals—potentially forever. I urge you to make your voices heard. Contact your representatives at Find Your Member (congress.gov/members/find-yo…) and demand action. Public health isn’t just a global issue—it’s a U.S. issue. We will continue fighting to reverse this pause and protect the health of us all.