Foreign Policy: On the Front Lines of the Trump Administration’s Ebola Response
Alex M. Azar, U.S. secretary of health and human services; Robert R. Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; and Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health

“As three of the United States’ senior public health officials, we have helped lead the U.S. response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since it began over a year ago. From the first reports of illness, the outbreak has been a top global health priority for the Trump administration. … A total of 317 CDC staff have completed 492 deployments, and the United States is the single largest national donor of financial assistance to combat the crisis, with nearly $158 million in contributions via USAID. … The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has spent more than $176 million on supporting the development and acquisition of [an investigational] vaccine. USAID contributed $20 million toward an advance purchase agreement for the vaccine so that, once it becomes licensed, doses can be purchased at much lower cost by Ebola-affected counties and WHO. … Through the work of the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, USAID, and others, the United States was present in the region to help fight infectious diseases and support health long before this outbreak began, we will be there through its duration, and we will remain after it ends. … Doing so will save lives around the world and keep Americans safe” (11/4).