The Economic Danger of Defunding Outbreak Warning Systems

The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) was launched in February 2014 to “rapidly identify and mitigate infectious disease threats at their source,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 70 percent of the world’s countries say they’re not fully prepared for an outbreak, and cuts to GHSA funding by the U.S. could put early-detection programs in 49 priority countries1 at risk. By making such cuts, the U.S. could be endangering valuable trade markets.

Value of U.S. Exports to GHSA Priority Countries (2015)

  • Manufacturing Goods: $178 million
  • Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting: $25 million
  • Other Exports: $14 million
  • Mining, Quarrying, and Oil/Gas Extraction: $3 million

Percentage of U.S. Exports to GHSA Priority Countries Relative to Total U.S. Exports (2015)

  • Manufactured Goods: 14%
  • Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting: 35%
  • Other Exports: 19%
  • Mining, Quarrying, and Oil/Gas Extraction: 10%

Total value of U.S. material goods exported to GHSA priority countries

>$222 billion
or 14.8% of U.S. exports worldwide

Total Value of U.S. Exported Material Goods and Services

>$308 Billion
or 13.7% of U.S. exports worldwide

Total number of U.S. jobs supported by exports to GHSA priority countries

1.64 million
or 14.3% of jobs supported by U.S. exports worldwide

Sources

1 Priority countries: Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Congo, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Mali, Malaysia, Mozambique, Pakistan, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, China, Egypt, South Africa, and Guatemala. (Cassell Cynthia H., Bambery Zoe, Roy Kakoli, Meltzer Martin I., Ahmed Zara, Payne Rebecca L., and Bunnell Rebecca E., Health Security, Dec 2017. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/hs.2017.0051#tf2)Return to footnote reference

Created by: MPH@GW, the online Master of Public Health program from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University