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.

Safety is no accident. Sue Baker was central to injury prevention, and continues to be an inspiration!

This story brought tears to my eyes. Every time purveyors of disinformation sow doubt about vaccines, they're risking the lives of kids. Globally, measles kills more than 100K kids a year, and that number will increase if the anti-vax industry is able to sue manufacturers and line their own pockets.

The anti-vaccine industry reaps enormous profits by selling products, selling subscriptions, and suing vaccine manufacturers. By exposing this business model, we disrupt it and get health back on track, as I discussed with @jessicamalaty.bsky.social.

Global health funds the vaccine, not the cold chain. The drug, not the supply chain. The protocol, not the health worker. No wonder proven interventions don't reach people. The delivery gap is the blind spot. New op-ed in @devex.com:

As a society, we need to clearly see health trends, hidden risks and pathways to progress so that we can avoid making the mistakes of the past and create a healthier future.

Twenty years ago, a doctor choosing between arsenic and death had no better options. Doctors now have a safe and effective oral treatment for sleeping sickness. I share a story of what public health can do.

What’s the best way to share public health guidance? I discussed this question with @drnoc.bsky.social. We agreed it’s important never to underestimate people’s ability to understand nuance and complexity.

A new study of more than 140K infants shows that Covid vaccination in pregnancy cuts the baby's hospitalization risk by about 50% in first 2 months. Babies can't get vaccinated until 6 months; protecting mom protects the baby.

Congenital rubella is nearly eliminated. Pneumococcal disease in seniors is dramatically down. These wins weren't accidents—they came from high vaccination rates. We're watching them unravel in real time. Read about the benefits of vaccines we risk losing.

I’ve long admired @drnoc.bsky.social's ability to explain nuanced scientific information and address misinformation. Great to talk with him about what kind of information moves people and how to build trust in public health. Watch our full conversation and let us know your thoughts!

Excited to be joining @drnoc.bsky.social today for a conversation on trust in public health. Tune in live starting at 1:30pm ET on Substack or Instagram! tomfrieden.substack.com

Another pandemic is a matter of when, not if. We cannot stop every pathogen, but we can build systems that help communities and countries find threats early and act decisively. The 7-1-7 target is a powerful tool to close the gap between knowledge and action.

We teach epidemiology, biostatistics, and health policy, which are essential disciplines. But how do you know if your program is working? How do you design an intervention simple enough to work at scale?

Congratulations to our authors whose books have been named 2025 Foreword INDIES award finalists: Miya Ando for "Water of the Sky," @mhallsworth.bsky.social for "The Hypocrisy Trap," and @drtomfrieden.bsky.social for "The Formula for Better Health": www.forewordreviews.com/awards/final...

A year ago, America had a functioning vaccine system. And then, in the span of just 12 months, nearly all of this system has been disrupted or dismantled. The scale of these changes will reverberate for years to come. Here's a rundown:

Put this on your calendar for next week! On Thursday 19 March at 6pm US ET, I'll talk to @drtomfrieden.bsky.social of Resolve to Save Lives (and formerly the CDC) about his new book THE FORMULA FOR BETTER HEALTH. RSVP here for livestream links: humanhealth.emory.edu/events/livin...

In one week! At 6pm ET on Thurs 19 March I'll interview @drtomfrieden.bsky.social about his new book THE FORMULA FOR BETTER HEALTH. This is part of the Health Storytelling series at @emorycshh.bsky.social AND a production of the Atlanta Science Festival! RSVP: humanhealth.emory.edu/events/livin...

The Formula for Better Health is a Foreword INDIES finalist in Health/Adult Nonfiction. The book makes the case that better health is achievable — for individuals and for populations. Glad it's reaching readers.

Save the Date -- Thursday, March 19th, 6pm ET -- for the latest Health Storytelling Q&A w/ Maryn McKenna @marynmck.bsky.social and Dr. Tom Frieden, MD @drtomfrieden.bsky.social —𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐂. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭 𝐊𝐨𝐨𝐩” 𝐛𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐘𝐂 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠.

Public health taking on big tobacco, soda, and alcohol companies is like David versus Goliath. Even though they’re much better funded, we can win with the right strategy.

The 7-1-7 target is being used around the world to find and stop disease outbreaks quickly. Read about the impact the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil saw when they adopted 7-1-7 and implemented real time dashboards to track spread. resolvetosavelives.org/strategies-i...

Facts alone don't change minds—trusted messengers and empathetic conversations do. Shaming vaccine-hesitant parents drives them away. Meeting people with empathy is where real change begins. The goal isn't to win an argument, it's to protect children. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/o...

Before we had an effective measles vaccine, up to 4 million kids were infected in bad years, with thousands hospitalized and at risk of long-term disability, and hundreds dead. The weaker our vaccination programs, the higher the risk of large outbreaks.

Microbes don't lobby politicians. Viruses don’t make campaign contributions. But tobacco, alcohol, and soda companies do—aggressively and relentlessly. That’s what makes controlling non-communicable diseases even harder than controlling infectious ones.

Nobody knows exactly how AI should be used in public health. We’re all learning. That's not a reason for paralysis but for structured experimentation. We can try things, measure what works, and scale up what succeeds.

Millions of people alive today would be dead if Bill Foege hadn’t done the work he did. Virtually none of them know that fact. And that would be fine with Bill. I’m continuing to reflect on the lessons and example of Bill Foege and to remember his words and moral character.

The United States is on the verge of losing its measles elimination status. What does this mean and what can we do about it?