Preventing the Next Ebola

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/opinion/disease-prevention.html

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To the Editor:

Re “White House Hails Success of Disease-Preventing Program, and Plans Deep Cuts” (nytimes.com, March 13), about proposed funding cuts for the Global Health Security Agenda:

As our country increasingly embraces isolationist policies, the ever-present risk of an epidemic is a reminder that we live in an interconnected and interdependent world. Disease recognizes no borders and discriminates against no nationality.

Applying an “America first” attitude to epidemic prevention would allow for the growth and spread of disease reservoirs and would, in effect, be putting America last. Because of increased travel and mosquito migration, we are more vulnerable to the spread of disease than ever before.

Because of the success of our prevention efforts, it is easy to dismiss epidemics as an issue in the developing world. However, it takes only a few cases of Ebola to reach the United States to send the country into a fearful frenzy.

We shouldn’t wait for history to repeat itself before reacting with renewed preventive efforts. We must treat threats to other countries’ health as if they were threats to our own health and advocate for global health just as we would for domestic issues.

ZIYA ZHANG, BERKELEY, CALIF.