How are people fighting ongoing epidemics using genomics-based technologies such as PCR testing and mRNA vaccines in a world where funding from the US and other rich countries is on the decline?
My guest this week, my dear friend and fellow journalist William Herkewitz, is reporting on the recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as tuberculosis around the world. A former communications director for now defunct USAID in multiple African countries, he has seen firsthand how funding from the US helped keep people healthy and infectious disease at bay.
In the old funding regime, a USAID partner organization might have been in place to raise the alarm about a hemorrhagic fever that looks a lot like Ebola and that could have led to a faster response, Herkewitz told me.
“And a much faster response for this outbreak absolutely could have been the difference [in avoiding] the trajectory we’re on now, which is maybe the largest Ebola outbreak in history, one that for sure is going to be going on for years.”
We discuss what happens when dollars disappear, and with them, networks of people and trust. We also evaluate PCR, next-generation sequencing, and paper-based diagnostic tests in these remote and resource-limited settings.
For more of Will’s reporting, check out The Rift Valley Dispatch, also on Substack.
The podcast is also available on Apple and Spotify.
Show Notes
Will’s New York Times op-ed. “Why We Couldn’t Sell America on U.S.A.I.D.”
His appearance on MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) to discuss his op-ed:
“Rollout of 5,000 Near Point-of-Care TB Test Systems in 13 Countries Begins With $50M in Funding,” by Madeleine Johnson
The beer I referenced in the opening anecdote about the bar that was closed on weekends, Zlaty Bažant a.k.a. the Golden Pheasant.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1195/3349/
Cover art: Colorized microscope image of Ebola virus. Image credit: CDC Global via Wikimedia Commons.
