US Secretary of State Blasts WHO for Slow Ebola Response as Washington Cuts Public Health Programs

On May 18, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized the World Health Organization (WHO) for being 'a little slow' in identifying the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda. Speaking to reporters, Rubio said: 'The leadership role clearly falls to the CDC and the WHO, but the WHO was a bit slow in identifying this, unfortunately.'

Rubio's remarks came after President Donald Trump decided to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO, a move described by experts as 'sowing the seeds for the next pandemic.' The U.S. exit led to the loss of nearly a quarter of the WHO's workforce—about 2,000 jobs out of roughly 9,400 staff.

Rubio said that after slashing aid last year, the U.S. now commits about $13 million in support to the region and hopes to open around 50 clinics to treat Ebola in the DRC. 'It's a difficult area to reach because it's rural and hard to get to in a war-torn country. We will focus resources quite heavily there,' he said.

That same day, the WHO expressed concern about the 'scale and speed' of the Ebola outbreak, which has killed an estimated 131 people in the DRC. On May 16, the WHO declared the outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a 'Public Health Emergency of International Concern,' stressing that neighboring countries sharing borders with the DRC are considered at high risk of further spread due to population movement, trade activity, and travel connections.

The WHO also called on countries without borders with the DRC and Uganda to avoid closing borders or restricting travel and trade during the outbreak, arguing that such measures are driven more by fear than science and could harm local economies and disrupt emergency response efforts.

However, Professor Gigi Gronvall, an immunologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, dismissed Rubio's criticism of the WHO. 'Blaming the WHO is wrong because they are operating with limited resources in a difficult environment with many security challenges. This is a strategic mistake and a national security gap because we are now in a weaker position than at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to handle infectious disease threats,' Gronvall added.

The WHO warnings come as U.S. health agencies continue to face a wave of mass layoffs under President Trump's second term. Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to cut dozens of positions at agencies like the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, CDC, and the National Institutes of Health. These cuts follow Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s announcement of an intention to reduce 10,000 jobs from the department's 82,000-strong workforce.

Public health experts warn that the erosion of U.S. public health infrastructure, coupled with deep political divisions and rampant misinformation, could undermine the public's willingness to follow health guidelines in the future. Professor Jennifer Nuzzo, Director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown School of Public Health, commented: 'This time, it feels like the U.S. government is on the sidelines.'