It was a series of unheeded warnings, unanswered emails, blocked payments, health supplies stranded in a warehouse, culling of staff, misrepresentations to the public, and an underplaying of the seriousness of the spread of one of the world’s most deadly diseases.
That’s how Nicholas Enrich described the Trump administration’s fumbling of its role in Uganda’s Ebola outbreak — which has since resulted in 12 laboratory-confirmed cases and two deaths.
Enrich, who served as acting assistant administrator for global health at the U.S. Agency for International Development testified before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Tuesday about the myriad obstacles his team faced in working to implement lifesaving programs, such as participating in the Ebola response, in the first month and a half of the Trump administration.
About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
