With the 2018 budget proposal, President Donald Trump has strongly indicated that safety of the United States would be his first priority. However, in his attempts to bring in changes in taxes and government spending, he has proposed deep cuts. And, much contrary to his priority, he has proposed to cuts to biosecurity which protects the nation from both natural as well as man-made pathogens.
According to reports from New York Times, an approximate cut of 9.7 percent, equaling $136 million has been proposed for the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response that keeps a track on disease outbreaks. The branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that fought Ebola and anthrax threats will see an 11 percent cut, which is around, $65 million. Moreover, the Center for Global Health, which does real-time tracking of outbreaks and the Select Agents Program that aids researchers to stay abreast and ahead of bioterrorists will have unspecified cuts.
These cuts in the biosecurity are ironic considering President Trump's focus is on the safety of the United States. Experts feel that with these cuts, the Americans will be more vulnerable as an outbreak can happen anytime. Terming this step to be horrific, the director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, J. Stephen Morrison, has said, "They're just gutting things, overlaying salt upon key institutions, with devastating human impact."
It must be mentioned that President Trump wants to increase the spending of military and border patrolling. However, director of the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Public Health Law and Human Rights feels that the next mass destruction weapon could be a small pathogen. And, with less focus on biosecurity, it is the Americans who are at risk as even before they are able to discover, it might have claimed several lives.
