Our “unilateral disarmament” is a huge gift to our competition. China is all too happy to fill the quickly forming vacuum. In tennis, we call this an “unforced error.”

“These half-truths and strategic deceptions made it easier for people with the worst motives to appear trustworthy” Great piece. The truth and facts are the cornerstone of science, and thus public health.

Basically: China First, America Second.

“Without scientific progress, no amount of achievement in other directions can insure our health, prosperity, and security as a nation.” Great context from @dhruvkhullar.bsky.social on the role of American scientific institutions. #science #health #research www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Could not agree more. Time for strategic retreat. Give the people what they voted for. @nytopinion.nytimes.com #democrats www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/o...

“People will die,” said Dr. @ckyobutungi.bsky.social, ED of @aphrc.bsky.social, “but we will never know, because even the programs to count the dead are cut.” @stephanienolen.bsky.social covers the many cruel & dangerous cuts to lifesaving USAID projects. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/h...

Imagine the impact this has on the reputation of America around the world. Abruptly removing aid is not the right way to reform or change. #publichealth #usaid #diplomacy www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/h...

Informed consent includes mentioning the benefits. Like you and your family not being one of 40,000 dead Americans during each flu season. @helenbranswell.bsky.social #vaccineswork #vaccines #publichealth www.statnews.com/2025/02/20/c...

Compelling piece, in which @gregggonsalves.bsky.social reminds us: “you don’t turn your back on those who have the most to lose.” @nytopinion.nytimes.com #hiv #aids #publichealth www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/o...

“In Kenya alone, at least 40,000 health care workers will lose their jobs.” “Ethiopia’s health ministry has fired 5,000 #healthworkers recruited under American funding.” These systems will collapse without their health workforce. @declanwalsh.bsky.social #health #diplomacy #healthsystems #usaid

It was an honor to join Lalita and Kelly for this discussion about “how technology can scale the magic of Family Medicine." #medicine #primarycare #MedSky open.spotify.com/episode/0eqV...

This NYT piece describes the devastation being wrought in the global health sector by the foreign assistance freeze. Let me say a few words about what this looks like in the sector I work in, often called democracy and governance (DRG). 🧵

What’s happening isn’t reform. It’s an attempt to capture and destroy the single most critical piece of infrastructure in global democracy and rights support—US funding. And it’s working.

“At stake is not just the good will that the United States has built internationally, but also its work to promote America’s security interests.” Beyond the moral case there is a clear self-interest case that the Admin is missing. @declanwalsh.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/w...

This was maybe the most sobering moment in my reporting this week – a scientist doing the tabulation of how long the tail of this would be, even if funding resumed shortly.

I hated having to write this, but I'm grateful to the many people who risked their ability to do critically important work they love, by talking to me. (And I will continue to cover it, so if you want to talk to me, DM for my Signal.) www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/h...

This will end up being a deadly and costly (financial, credibility) freeze for the US. @wsj.com www.wsj.com/world/africa...

What an incredible testament to the importance of: - Investments in #healthsystems; “Rwanda, for its part, has invested heavily in its healthcare system.” - Partnerships & relationships - Preparedness, such as Table Top Exercises. …all to bring the 100 Days Mission to reality.

"Generating support for an internationalist #foreignpolicy requires...a vivid picture of what that world would be like without an active US. Isolation has never been the answer to the country’s security or prosperity." ...or #health @foreignaffairs.com www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

A few visuals of the #corruption that siphoned off resources from the health system. Among other health impacts of the regime… www.nytimes.com/2024/12/10/w...

When Geriatric #Millennials envisioned our generation taking power, these were not the personalities we had in mind. Now the anti-war anti-interventionist views? Oddly, we can find common ground.

This is an oligarchy. The founders never intended people to have this much power… EVER Stop the oligarchy

This is a phenomenal and heartbreaking piece about how conflict contributes to antimicrobial resistance. #amr #conflict #MedSky

Vivek is literally an unelected federal bureaucrat.

www.nytimes.com/2024/11/25/o... Knocked out to get my first piece in the world's best newspaper @nytimes.com

Have you heard of Robert Rayford? He was the earliest confirmed case of HIV/AIDS in North America. His story reshapes how we understand the epidemic and reminds us to fight for health equity.I encourage you to read this piece of #HIV history. A 🧵 #WorldAIDSDay2024 www.aidschicago.org/say-his-name...

This #WorldAIDSDay is an opportunity to celebrate impactful gains over the last 2 decades - like the dramatic increase in #PrEP access - but also to highlight how far we have to go. #EndAIDS #WorldAIDSDay2024 #UequalsU #HIV #SDG3

An RFK-led HHS will damage American credibility abroad. Such conspiratorial anti-science actions not only negatively impact #publichealth abroad, but they will ultimately impact the health of Americans.

RFK Jr’s groups “have interfered with vaccination efforts, undermined sex education campaigns meant to stem the spread of AIDS in Africa, & railed against global organizations like the @who.int that are in charge of #health initiatives.” @nytimes.com #diplomacy www.nytimes.com/2024/11/30/w...

“…early in the pandemic, many of the leading #Covid contrarians, including some of those now at the top of Trump’s short list, were among the most inaccurate voices making claims…” David Wallace-Wells on #publichealth implications of a 2nd Trump admin @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/o...

From Ukraine to the Middle East to China, the geopolitical landscape is set to shift dramatically in the new year. The changing foreign relations dynamics will impact #publichealth and health security. @foreignpolicy.com with @ianbremmer.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/3NP1...

The country's 2nd largest state losing OB-Gyn medical residents and attendings should probably alarm people www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

The dismal initial US response to COVID was on the Trump admin. We toyed with false solutions & focused on placing blame on China rather than solving the immediate problem. The one eventual bright spot was Operation Warp Speed. Would Dr. Bhattacharya support OWS 2.0? #vaccineswork #MedSky

For many of the serious health challenges we face, real solutions exist. Focusing on what we can do rather than sowing panic is the way to make change.

“When everything is a crisis, nothing can be.” Varying explanations for a crisis can then create a “sense that the present [is] deeply fraught and that the faster we usher in the future, the sooner all our problems would be solved.” @nytimes.com #publichealth www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/o...

Fantastic piece, as usual, from @nathanheller.bsky.social “It’s about seeding the ambience of information, throwing facts and fake facts alike into an environment of low attention, with the confidence that, like minnows released individually into a pond, they will eventually school and spawn.”

Just heard this fantastic Michael Gungor quote on #burnout: “Burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long.” #MedSky

The US is already here: “Domestic internal divisions are weakening our global credibility.” - Francis Fukuyama @foreignaffairs.com #foreignpolicy #diplomacy #global podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Last year, when I was at MSNBC, I did a 10-minute deep-dive into RFK Jr's anti-vaxxer role in the measles outbreak that killed dozens and dozens of kids in Samoa. I hope every Senator voting in his confirmation process for HHS knows about this crucial and awful story:

The inconsistencies are truly incredible. The GOP wants the right to make their own #healthcare decisions. …but not when it comes to a woman deciding how to handle her own pregnancy.

“We are all about to find out precisely how vulnerable we really are.”

Vaccines save lives and reduce healthcare costs. Those are facts. It is dangerous that RFK Jr., a political figure with no medical or public health training, is the choice to take the nation’s most powerful and important public health job. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/o...

There is a big difference between debating the merits of pandemic measures & the benefits of vaccines. If we want to talk evidence or science, let's talk. Scientists and clinicians of all types stand ready. @wsj.com #MedSky #publichealth www.wsj.com/health/healt...

What if - hear me out now - we paid the Family physicians like 75% of what the Dermatologists make? The #primarycare shortage would disappear. #MedSky @wsj.com www.wsj.com/lifestyle/ca...

2 takeaways from this piece on LLMs improving diagnostic accuracy. 1️⃣ #AI tools have the potential to dramatically increase access to information. In #healthcare, this can mean improved diagnostic accuracy, better outcomes, lower costs. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/h...

“And the victims wouldn’t just be children in families that consciously opt out.” @zey.bsky.social This is why #publichealth measures are so important. It’s about protecting you AND your community. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/16/o...

These appointments prove that insisting people achieve and be promoted based on “merit” was never really their real concern.

This is peak Idiocracy. www.politico.com/news/2024/11...

Astounding view from European pharma and tech: they’re anticipating being able to hire more Americans, with an American brain drain. Now that educated people are not wanted in the U.S.

i would happily pay a few dollars a month to keep this place viable.