Alex Kong

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for resumption of more regular musings on the state of global health and access to health technologies/anguished memes and re-posts, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

I encourage those in the #malaria #accesstomeds #amr space to take a look at some of our visualizations (hosted by RBM) to see what Maisha ACT can do: dashboards.endmalaria.org/en/maisha-meds

For those attending @astmh.bsky.social 2025, we'll have a live demo on November 10: maisha.app/astmh-rsvp

Maisha ACT: Africa's Largest Antimalarial Tracker Goes Live Maisha ACT covers 80% of antimalarial use across 40+ countries, delivering unprecedented visibility into the private and public sectors.

I'm excited to support today's launch of Maisha ACT, which I was legitimately astonished to learn tracks 80% of antimalarial consumption in sub-Saharan Africa. Info on private sector use is critical, but has been opaque, for understanding antimalarial drug resistance.

maishameds.org/news/maisha-...

Dusting off my Bluesky to happily share that I've joined Maisha Meds: a start-up I was introduced to early in my (too) short time at USAID. MM equips 5k+ pharmacies in Africa with point-of-sale software, develops innovative programs to increase access to meds, and sheds light on critical data gaps.

At least we have herd immuni—funding for scientific resear—non-partisan public hea—support of evidence-backed interven—

Johns Hopkins Plans Staff Layoffs After $800 Million Grant Cuts Local and international health research efforts are already winding down as the university braces for even more potential cuts.

Telling researchers to keep doing the work & adapt while weathering the storm ain't gonna cut it. American higher education simply cannot survive this systematic dismantling and attack. There's no weathering a category 5 hurricane. Many will simply leave if this continues
www.wsj.com/health/healt...

DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION:

My reporter Brett Murphy obtained a remarkable directive to folks at USAID: Empty the safes with the classified and personnel records and then,

"Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break."

if you've had an NIH grant terminated, I want to hear about it. Signal: katherinejwu.12

Where Being Gay Is Punishable by Death, Aid Cuts Are ‘Heartbreaking’ Uganda’s L.G.B.T.Q. population was already struggling to cope with the fallout of a harsh anti-gay law when the disruption of U.S. aid put people at even greater risk.

Where Being Gay Is Punishable by Death, Aid Cuts Are ‘Heartbreaking.’ Uganda’s #LGBTQ+ population, already struggling with the fallout of a harsh anti-gay law, sees disruption of U.S. aid put people at even greater risk, by @lattif.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/w... via @nytimes.com

Chris Coons [D-Del.], "...says even some Republicans have been shocked by the scope of cuts. “‘We wanted to squeeze the ‘woke’ out of it. We wanted a little reshaping, but we didn’t mean to starve children’,” was their reaction, he says."

Um.

Rubio terminated 5800 USAID contracts – more than 90% of its foreign aid programs – in defiance of the courts.

Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressionally mandated. They’ve saved millions of lives. 🧵

Every day we are finding a new way to trumpet that we are not reliable partners: for development assistance, medical guidance, geopolitical support, clinical trials, higher education funding, and (even before these PubMed scares) preserving decades of research and data. Our word means nothing now.

So.

It has officially happened. I have been officially let go from my position at CDC. I wasn’t a probationary employee. I had stellar performance reviews every year.

I’ll be ok. But please understand that many worked HARD to get into these positions and were doing great public health work.

Especially when COVID rapid tests have only gone up in price and when there are multiple circulating respiratory illnesses. Lowering the barrier for individuals to test can help people to make more informed decisions on the risk they might pose to others at a very delicate time.

This feels like the perfect storm for an “n-demic” to rival the “tripledemic” of COVID/flu/RSV of the past.

We’re going to have to brush up on our Greek number prefixes real fast.

Every day we weaken our health system more, and we’re gearing up to lift voices who have built followings from their “let ‘er rip” mentalities to handling COVID-19. We’re cutting ourselves off from collaborative health efforts by leaving WHO, and encouraging the efflux of scientific/health experts.

I genuinely wonder how quickly this gov will reverse course on health when the diseases USAID/CDC scientists prevented/contained arrive, vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks spread, and people become more susceptible to severe infection bc they can’t afford their routine meds. Maybe all at once.

It is really short-sighted and stupid to be gutting public health and outbreak surveillance capacity right now:
- H5N1 nationwide - uncontrolled
- TB in Kansas - largest U.S outbreak
- Measles in Texas - Expanding
- Seasonal flu - Worst in 15 years
- Pertussis - outbreaks in multiple states.

With an anti-science conspiracy theorist leading the US Department of Health and Human Services, preventative action is critical to protecting your health and the health of your community.

A good place to start would be getting back into the practice of regularly wearing a mask.

I am worried about:
- the future of vaccines
- the unchecked spread of bird flu
- the suppression of public health voices
- the rolling back HIV care access
- the assault on science and researchers
Today more than ever, I am worried about these things and the threat to our collective health.

Uncertainty around PEPFAR program puts millions of people at risk MSF is calling on the US government to immediately resume funding for the full range of PEPFAR operations as well as other critical health and humanitarian aid.

#USA: We are calling on the US government to immediately resume funding for the full range of PEPFAR operations as well as other critical health and humanitarian aid.

Uncertainty around PEPFAR program puts millions of people at risk

www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/uncer...

Boom: Federal judge orders CDC, NIH & FDA to restore websites & datasets in response to DFA lawsuit Chris Geidner ‪@chrisgeidner.bsky.social‬ BREAKING: In response to doctors' lawsuit, Judge John Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, orders CDC, NIH, and FDA to put back up websites and datasets cited b...

BOOM: Federal judge orders CDC, NIH & FDA to restore websites & datasets in response to @drsforamerica.bsky.social lawsuit:

acasignups.net/25/02/11/boo...

The devastation of USAID has been called a pilot: to see how completely and rapidly agencies and departments can be dismantled. I hope that the courts can prevent a total loss. There are still exceptional, good people working there. But they, and the people who depend on them, need our support.

Cutting funding and our workforce could mean that resistance will spiral out of control, and millions of lives will be lost. No one believes foreign aid is perfect. But swiftly razing rather than reforming USAID upends the "journey to self-reliance" the agency promoted in Trump's first term.

Before I was furloughed, I was working to support efforts to combat antimalarial drug resistance (AMDR). The disruptive impact of COVID-19, AMDR, and stagnant funding have contributed to a worrisome flat-lining of progress in lowering the global malaria death rate. Malaria programs need more money.

I'm searching for jobs, but it's hard to find something that hasn't been deeply impacted by the foreign assistance freeze and the disembowelment of a 63-year-old agency that has historically received bipartisan support. Thousands have lost jobs, but, more critically, millions are at risk.

It's hard to know what to grieve for at any moment. I grieve for what felt like the perfect job. For the colleagues who were so abruptly cast aside. For the field of global health and, more broadly, international development. For the people who counted on us for access to medicine and so much more.

PMI was going to celebrate its 20th anniversary this year. I paused on that verb, "was," because I don't know if it will make it. Two-thirds of its workforce has been laid off: some are individuals who have dedicated decades-long careers to preventing avoidable malaria deaths worldwide.

I felt like I had found my place and was meaningfully contributing to multiple projects for the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative. Then, the election happened. My anxiety was slightly quelled by colleagues who had weathered several admin changes. It also helped that PMI was a Bush initiative.

I've been holding my tongue for the past couple weeks since being furloughed at USAID, but today I finally got the termination notice. I was one of sixteen Science for Development Fellows working at USAID. It was the 1st year of the fellowship which was meant to bring more STEM expertise to USAID. 🧵