Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pandemic Preparedness, WHO Involvement: Global Health Hangs In The Balance With Today's Election
An agreement to set nations鈥 obligations when the next pandemic comes, billions in contributions to international disease control efforts, even U.S. membership in the World Health Organization: Those are the main stakes for global health in tomorrow鈥檚 election, according to health policy analysts. (Paun, 11/4)
Between emerging diseases and pandemic threats, abortion and reproductive health, climate change, and humanitarian aid to war zones, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have wildly divergent visions for global health, with the outcome in [today's] US presidential election likely to reverberate across Europe and the world. Trump鈥檚 former administration offers a solid clue about his approach to global health. Most notably, he cut funding and started pulling the US out of the World Health Organization (WHO) and opted not to join the COVID-19 vaccine-sharing programme COVAX. (Galvin, 11/2)
In Nairobi, Kenya, Cate Nyambura is awaiting the outcome of the U.S. presidential election as if it could change her life鈥攚hich it might. Nyambura is the director of programs at ATHENA Network, a global feminist collective that works primarily on reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS, and gender-based violence. 鈥淲e hold our breath when the U.S. is having elections,鈥 Nyambura says. Tuesday鈥檚 vote will have an enormous effect on how鈥攁nd whether鈥擭yambura and countless other health workers and reproductive rights activists around the world can do their jobs. Thanks to a longstanding rule about abortion that shifts each time the White House changes political parties, every U.S. presidential election pits the American mood against other countries鈥 sovereignty鈥攁nd the health of their women and girls. (Mungai, 11/4)
The 鈥渓eader of the free world鈥 always holds a huge sway over the 7.9 billion people who don鈥檛 get a vote. But this time, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are so diametrically opposed 鈥 in style, substance, policy and beyond 鈥 that the victor could shape global events for years, if not decades, to come. 鈥淭his is an extremely important election for the world,鈥 said Thomas Shannon Jr., former U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, the third-highest-ranking role in the State Department. Particularly, 鈥渂ecause it comes at a time of debate within the American public about the purpose of American power in the world.鈥 (Smith, 11/4)
Control of Congress is at stake Tuesday, with ever-tight races for the House and Senate that will determine which party holds the majority and the power to boost or block a president鈥檚 agenda, or if the White House confronts a divided Capitol Hill. (Mascaro and Jalonick, 11/5)