In every country of the world, coordinating the response of public health authorities in a pandemic, ensuring that all the various government agencies work together, is critical to controlling a pandemic and containing its worst consequences. People’s lives depend on it, as we learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. And we all know that the next pandemic is just around the corner. But as we simply don’t know when it will hit, having a working pandemic preparedness and response policy is essential.
Suppose a country takes a political step that weakens it. In that case, it opens itself up to the dangers of an uncontrolled, fragmented pandemic response, with potentially devastating consequences for itself and other countries. So what is currently happening in America due to recent decisions of the Trump administration is a matter of deep concern.
Here are the facts of the matter.
In America, the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR) was created in 2022 to enable the country to better respond to potential future pandemics, having experienced disastrous effects from COVID-19 on virtually all aspects of society. It serves as the central coordinating body encompassing the many relevant bodies that bear infectious disease, namely human, animal, and plant health, and the environment, the main pillars of the One Health construct.
The recent resignation of an experienced and respected expert Dr. Gerald Parker, who had been nominated as Extraordinary Special Assistant to the U.S. President and Senior Director for Biosecurity and Pandemic Response – One Health Initiative, to head the OPPR after only six months, would likely mean going forward that President Trump’s second Administration is intent on abolishing or minimizing this Office, as he had indicated during his first term.
If you’re wondering who Dr. Gerald Parker is, here is an interview done two years ago in which Dr. Parker draws the lessons from the COVID 19 experience, noting difficulties with regard to testing and vaccine distribution:
Specifically, in 2018, Trump dismantled the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, a previous pandemic response unit within the National Security Council (NSC). During his 2024 Presidential campaign, Trump suggested dismantling the OPPR, describing it as an “expensive solution to something that won’t work” and a “way of giving out pork”.
A Dismal Future without Multisectoral Coordination of Infectious Diseases
If Trump abolishes OPPR or reduces its mission and significantly reduces its staff, making it an entity in name only, the likelihood we will all suffer, both those of us within the United States and internationally.
Potential consequences include:
Public health impacts
- Potential Infectious Disease Resurgence: Without a dedicated high-level office to coordinate and prepare for major infectious disease outbreaks, including garnering the attention and resources, there is likely less for public health initiatives, leading to a lack of timely responses to emerging pathogens.
- Fragmented Response Coordination: OPPR currently serves as the centralized body for pandemic response. Its dissolution will fragment such efforts, resulting in state and local health departments operating in silos, creating inefficiencies in response times and resource allocation, and affecting effectiveness across the nation.
- Erosion of Preparedness Infrastructure: The U.S. has invested significantly in pandemic preparedness infrastructure. These investments in physical and human resources could be left fallow and funding reallocated or diminished without OPPR’s advocacy and oversight. What would be lost would be programs which train healthcare professionals to respond to epidemics, stockpiling of essential resources, and surveillance systems maintenance, leaving the U.S. ill-equipped for future outbreaks.
Devastating economic consequences
- Increased Economic Burdens: During and after an outbreak of pandemic proportions, there are substantial economic costs, with varying impacts across different places and sectors, harsher in some than others. With OPPR identifying and organizing a response to an outbreak, the economic impact will likely be less damaging. Past pandemics led to job losses, decreased consumer spending, and strain on healthcare systems.
- Reduced Investor Confidence: The absence of a functioning high-level federal office dedicated to pandemic preparedness would have an effect on investors. Companies will likely consider whether they are concerned about the increased risks of unchecked health crises.
- Supply Disruptions: A crucial aspect in dealing with the containment of a major infectious disease outbreak is effective management of the many types of supplies needed. To do this means having a coordination mechanism able to prevent regional, State, or local beggar-thy-neighbor competition. Further, and notwithstanding trade and tariff efforts to bring production into the United States, much of what is needed will come from abroad.
International relations: Consequential damage to America’s leadership and image abroad
- Decreased Global Leadership: The Trump Administration has already announced it will leave the World Health Organization as well as other United Nations and global institutions; nevertheless, it is still one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, if not actually the most advanced.
- America has unmatched capability to provide rapid surveillance, information, and cooperative support in the event of a highly contagious outbreak; other countries and global institutions will need to look to a point place go to when there is either a potential health threat to or from the United States. This is the unique role that OPPR is positioned to play.
Societal Implications: Negative fallout within America
- Public Mistrust in Government: Ending a functioning OPPR would potentially heighten public fears of the government’s capability to manage health crises, given what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Health Inequities: Marginalized communities often endure the most from inadequate health infrastructure during pandemics. Without a federal office focused on preparedness, these communities would be more at risk.
What Shouldn’t Happen
The abolition of the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy would have profound repercussions throughout the country. American society is already polarized, but would likely face further deepened fractures caused by increased fear, distrust, and deepening health inequities.
Those in the Administration and Congress in a position to make decisions, as well as the public at large, need to better appreciate the importance of a coordinated approach to pandemic prevention and preparedness. It is not if but when and where a pandemic will happen. Time is short to prepare—let’s not waste it by dismantling an instrument that can help us do better.
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Authors’ relationship to One Health:
Richard Seifman, JD, MBA: A former World Bank Senior Advisor and U.S. Senior Foreign Service Advisor with USAID, has been affiliated with the One Health Initiative team since August 2022. He was awarded an Honorary Diplomate from the American Veterinary One Health Society (AVOHS) recognizing his contributions to the field.
Bruce Kaplan, DVM: A retired practicing and government public health veterinarian formerly with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he is a widely recognize One Health expert, and current Contents Manager/Editor of One Health Initiative website. www.onehealthinitiative.com [onehealthinitiative.com]
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Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — Cover Photo Credit: Eric Sales/ Asian Development Bank
