Fascinating. Selling Candy to Kids: A new exhibit highlights the colorful tactics advertisers use to get children hooked on junk @drtomfrieden.bsky.social

The screwworm barrier worked for nearly six decades because people funded and staffed it. Because we let down our guard, the vampire pathogen is back, and could cost billions of dollars to control.

A bipartisan group of United States senators is speaking out against plans that would gut PEPFAR, shutter many CDC country offices, and make Americans less safe. Thank you Senators Warnock and Cassidy for leading this effort!

The State Department’s plan will basically destroy PEPFAR and lead to the closure of many CDC country offices—a scenario that would jeopardize the health of millions and make Americans less safe.

Seeing the invisible is public health’s superpower. By seeing threats clearly, we can generate the motivation to stop them and catalyze effective, lifesaving solutions. Thanks @aveek18.bsky.social for reviewing The Formula for Better Health!

Because Ebola isn't airborne and doesn't spread through casual contact, the risk to anyone at the World Cup is extremely low. But the virus does pose a grave risk to thousands of people in DRC and the surrounding region. They deserve the world’s support.

Turning CDC into a vendor will destroy lifesaving programs and undermine health security around the world and in our own country. This isn’t global health reform, it’s abandonment.

Could the World Cup accelerate Ebola’s spread or carry it to new regions? No mass gathering is immune to disease threats, and the World Cup won’t be either. But when it comes to Ebola, controlling spread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most pressing challenge.

Three weeks ago I wrote that the Ebola outbreak in the DRC could be stopped. It still can, but it continues to move faster than the response, and the numbers understate how fast it’s moving. tomfrieden.substack.com/p/when-the-n...

Could the large Ebola outbreak in the DRC have been prevented? Dr. Sandro Galea and I discussed how we got here and what needs to happen to contain the outbreak.

Soda and other sugary beverages are linked to heart disease and many other health harms. The world's biggest sweetened beverage companies are sponsoring the FIFA World Cup. This sets a bad example on a major stage. Learn more at kickbigsodaout.org.

I’ve worked on health programs in dozens of countries over four decades, and I can’t think of a single more powerful example of progress against cardiovascular disease than South Korea’s impressive efforts to control high blood pressure.

Dr. Sandro Galea and I sat down to discuss the forces shaping health in a turbulent moment and how pragmatism can lead to public health progress. Progress is possible, but it isn’t inevitable and requires use to keep working toward better health even when the moment feels like a step backward.

Modeling disease spread shows the potential consequences of inaction and the benefits of urgent action.

Erica Frazier Stum died at 33 of cervical cancer—a disease a vaccine could have prevented. HPV vaccination reduces cervical cancer risk by up to 80%. Australia is on track to eliminate cervical cancer entirely. Yet only 63% of U.S. teens are up to date on the vaccine. @lizszabo.bsky.social

Five years after the Global Diabetes Compact, there is progress to recognize — but millions still lack affordable insulin more than a century after its discovery. 🩺 @who.int @sanofi.com @thelancet.com @drtomfrieden.bsky.social 📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

"You cannot order off a menu if the restaurant is closed." -- @drtomfrieden.bsky.social, warning that proposed funding structural changes to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program could dismantle the CDC's global health support network. www.medpagetoday.com/publichealth...

Ebola is an unforgiving enemy and requires a massive, immediate, and meticulous response, as I write in @statnews.com.

I’m honored that The Formula for Better Health has been named the 2025 Foreword INDIES Gold Winner Book of the Year in Health, its highest award in that category. I wrote this book to increase the number of people who understand what public health is, why it matters, and how to do it well.

Although a bottle of soda may not cost much money, these aren’t cheap calories. Sodas are empty, harmful calories, and around the world they help drive obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and many other health harms. I explain why health taxes offer a rare triple win.

With Ebola, time is lives. The United States reportedly learned about the outbreak in DRC nine days after WHO did, because we walked away from that partnership. Although not perfect, WHO is essential. The stronger WHO is, the safer we are, as I told @nickkristof.bsky.social. Gift link:

Ebola has a running head start. By the time the outbreak in DRC was detected, there were already many suspected cases and deaths. We’ve seen if you reach an Ebola outbreak in days, you can stop it in weeks. Months of delay? It will take much longer. That’s why countries need to surge support now.

The Ebola outbreak “is a stress test, and it’s a stress test the world is not doing well at,” @drtomfrieden.bsky.social, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told @bloomberg.com this morning. “I would say so far we’re failing, and that bodes ill for the future.”

This Ebola outbreak can be stopped. It will take a response that matches the speed of the virus, not the molasses of bureaucracy. The people who know how to do the work are in place elsewhere. It’s up to the rest of the world to give them the support they need, right now.

If the US plan to dismantle PEPFAR goes forward, 18 CDC global outposts could close before year's end, up to 85% of CDC’s global presence could evaporate over the next 2 years, millions worldwide will lose important protection against outbreaks & Americans will be at greater risk of disease threats.

In an Ebola outbreak, the virus itself isn’t the only killer. When communities fear that health facilities or services are disrupted, deeper challenges arise. In the 2014–16 Ebola outbreak, more people died from malaria because the health system shut down than from Ebola. That's what's at stake.

In a matter of days, the U.S. State Dept. plans to fundamentally weaken PEPFAR—a 25-year bipartisan success—which would affect 8 million HIV patients and dismantle the same labs, teams of epidemiologists, and rapid-response systems we rely on to respond to diseases such as the Ebola outbreak in DRC.

Dismantling USAID, withdrawing from WHO, gutting CDC—that's a 1-2-3 punch to global health infrastructure. A health threat anywhere can reach people everywhere. Rebuilding can takes year. The time to invest in preparedness is before the outbreak.

In 2014, when the Ebola response began, we had 40–50 cases. This new outbreak had as many as 400 cases when it was identified, about 10 times as large. The virus has a big head start. In an Ebola outbreak, every minute, every hour, every day is crucial to prevent further spread. Time is lives.

This week, as an alarming Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo spreads, Resolve to Save Lives released our latest Epidemics That Didn’t Happen report. These quiet victories are invisible, but they carry lessons we can’t afford to ignore.

🗣️🚨👀Missed yesterday's webinar with @drtomfrieden.bsky.social & @jeremyfaust.bsky.social? Watch it now! Frieden, who led the CDC during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, discusses the latest developments in the current outbreak & what clinicians should know: youtu.be/E_bUHawY7tQ?...

The early trajectory of the Ebola outbreak in DRC is alarming. Spread of the disease likely went undetected for months. Fast detection and response are crucial to stop outbreaks.

🚨🗣️A fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Congo has led to more than 500 suspected cases and 130 deaths. Tomorrow at 12:30pm ET, former CDC director @drtomfrieden.bsky.social and @jeremyfaust.bsky.social will discuss the latest developments in the outbreak. Register now: ehgroup.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Ebola is spreading in DRC and Uganda. WHO has declared a global health emergency. This is a serious outbreak, but with global solidarity and local action, the world can stop it. Speed is everything, as these stories show. etdh.resolvetosavelives.org/2026/

A serious and potentially devastating outbreak of Ebola is happening in DRC and Uganda. WHO has declared this outbreak a public health emergency of international concern—a sign that the world faces grave risk and must take urgent action.

Taxes on tobacco, alcohol, sugary drinks, and unhealthy food raise revenue, improve health, and reduce health-care costs. Yet, they face fierce resistance from multinational corporations. @drtomfrieden.bsky.social busts 10 health tax myths put forward by opponents.

The story deserves to be much better known—both because Korea has earned the credit and because every country in the world can make progress at least this fast. Here’s what happened.

The right thing to do can be more powerful than all the lobbyists in the world. In a new piece for @thinkglobalhealth.org, I push back on ten myths about health taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks.

Looking forward to being in Geneva next week for #WHA79. Resolve to Save Lives is co-hosting four events on health threats that kill millions every year—epidemics, lead poisoning, diabetes and heart disease. resolvetosavelives.org/timeline/join-resolve-to-save-lives-at-the-2026-world-health-assembly

Disease detectives are usually invisible. Their work is patient, quiet, and methodical, and it saves more lives than almost any other profession. The Hondius outbreak will end sooner because dozens of them did this work well.

Decisions in Washington have life-and-death consequences. More superb and heartbreaking reporting from @nickkristof.bsky.social.

Fruit and candy flavors fueled the youth vaping epidemic in the first place. Approving them under political pressure...“gold-standard” science or taking gold bribes? Any idea that candy flavors will only be used by adults is lunacy; this will condemn kids to addiction and early disability and death.

Hantavirus is unlikely to spiral into a pandemic. But the real story is this: WHO is on the cruise ship. It's issuing clear guidance. It's coordinating across countries. CDC has been largely silent—no guidance to doctors, no public update.

The hantavirus outbreak is a stark reminder that hollowing out CDC and walking away from WHO leaves Americans and the world more vulnerable. So far, this disease outbreak is small. The next may not be. That's why we need to rebuild CDC, rejoin WHO, and address disease spillover at the source.

The hantavirus outbreak is precisely the kind of threat the United States cannot handle alone. Only WHO can coordinate the early warnings, genome sequences, case definitions and multi-country contact tracing that protect Americans. This outbreak is, at present, a small one. The next one may not be.

There’s a big gap between what’s said and what’s actually done when it comes to vaccine policy. We did have “gold standard science” and strict rules preventing conflict of interest. Now, we don’t.

Even when U.S. funding for HIV programs was slashed, Zambia showed resilience by continuing to run them. Moving toward country ownership of health programs is the right long-term goal, but funding cuts are moving faster than any country can absorb. That gap is costing lives.

Two rigorous new studies reach the same conclusion: delaying the hepatitis B birth dose means hundreds more infant infections, more liver cancer, more deaths, and millions of dollars in added costs. The evidence for the birth dose has always been strong. These studies make it even stronger.

For more than two decades, Nancy Cox ran the influenza division at CDC, preventing catastrophes the rest of us never had to think about. Most Americans haven’t heard of her, but we’ve all been touched by her work.

After a year without PEPFAR data, we have new numbers—and they raise serious q's. HIV testing & new diagnoses are down. Hundreds of thousands of people who should have been reached weren't. Sustaining hard-won global health gains requires consistent investment in the full system that delivers care.