When the World’s Global Health System Is Strong, so Is America

The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that, thus far in 2025, some 100 disease outbreaks have been identified in 66 countries, most in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Near East. The diseases—from Ebola to cholera, mpox to Marburg, yellow fever to dengue—have ranged in their severity and the number of people impacted.

And while many of these diseases are not regularly seen in this country, one look at America’s congested airports and seaports tells you that could all change on a dime.

Tens of millions of people travel into and out of the US every year, and each time one of them enters the country, there’s a chance they bring an infection with them. What prevents these diseases from taking hold on our shores and causing large-scale illness? In short, it’s a strong global health system that has the necessary expertise, equipment and manpower to detect and contain disease before it spreads.

Global health is domestic health

In today’s interconnected world, what impacts Africa can impact Asia can impact the Americas. And it all can happen in a matter of hours. But when one country’s public health system is strong, all countries benefit.

“Our disease prevention measures are just layers of Swiss cheese,” noted Scott Shone, PhD, lab director of the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health and APHL’s current president. “Nothing is perfect, and everything has holes in it. But the challenge is making sure the holes in the pieces of Swiss cheese don’t line up and allow disease to slip through. And the more slices you lay on top of each other, the less likely it is to happen. When you strengthen global health, when you strengthen laboratories and public health systems in other countries, you’re adding more slices of cheese and plugging up the holes that allow diseases to spread.”

Consider both the Ebola outbreak that traveled across Africa and into the US in 2014 and the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In 2014, delays in detecting and responding to the multi-country outbreak led to over 10,000 deaths and an overstressed health system. The 2025 DRC outbreak, on the other hand, lasted just weeks, due, in part, to healthcare workers quickly organizing a vaccination campaign that reached some 35,000 people.

“The 2014 Ebola outbreak revealed the consequences of delayed action, as the slow response allowed the virus to spread rapidly across countries,” explained Lucy Maryogo-Robinson, APHL’s managing director of Global Health. “In contrast, more recent Ebola outbreaks have been swiftly contained, thanks to faster laboratory testing, improved surveillance and coordinated international responses. These advancements demonstrate that supporting global health infrastructure directly reduces the risk of global crises becoming domestic emergencies—protecting lives, economies and national stability.”

“Global health is not charity,” Shone emphasized. “It is not a pet project. It’s not just teaching someone in another country how to perform a test. Global health is strategy.”

Global health supports a strong American economy

Having a robust global health system doesn’t just benefit Americans’ health. It also benefits America’s economy. And the still-fresh memory of the massive shutdowns encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic is a prime example.

“Every aspect of life was affected—schools closed, businesses shuttered, economies contracted and global travel came to a standstill,” Maryogo-Robinson said. “Healthcare systems were pushed to their limits, and families around the world suffered immense loss. Beyond the immediate crisis, hard-won progress in combating other diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, was set back significantly. The lesson is clear: Investing in global health preparedness is not optional—it is essential to protecting lives, livelihoods and long-term economic stability.”

Global health: An APHL mission

Global health isn’t just in APHL’s DNA, said Scott Becker, APHL chief executive officer. It is APHL’s DNA.

“Our vision is a healthier world through quality laboratory systems,” he said, “no matter where those laboratory systems are.”

Becker noted that APHL’s work fits squarely within the administration’s new America First Global Health Strategy, which emphasizes using “health foreign assistance to advance US priorities and move countries towards resilient and durable local health systems.”

“The work we do, and the work we’ve always done, has been supporting and connecting labs here and globally,” Becker explained. “We never go into a country and take over. We create a bilateral relationship. We have twinning initiatives with labs here and around the world. We train and mentor and ensure that all labs take ownership of their work, which, in turn, promotes sustainability. We meet countries where they are.”

And when countries support, collaborate with and empower each other, the benefits are widespread.

“By supporting laboratory professionals and partners in other countries the way we support those in the field here, we give them an opportunity to innovate, which brings innovation here,” said Shone, who described how some US labs adopted transporting sample specimens with drones after seeing the technology at work in Africa.  “And that makes both systems stronger. It’s a win for everyone.”