After a Year of Devastation, We Will Not Waiver from Our Mission

Every U.S. presidential administration enters office facing threats to global health. But the next administration enters at a particularly dangerous moment where conflict, climate change, and the resurgence of disease provide a triple threat.

On their own, each of these present a serious risk to the world’s health, but the United States must prioritize all of them, or else we risk them boiling over into global health catastrophes.

There are more active conflicts in the world today than at any point since World War II. It’s hard to even calculate the countless millions of innocent civilians who are suffering from violence in places like Haiti, Sudan, Ukraine, and across the Middle East. We know the tragic, long-lasting costs that conflict will have on their health, both physically and mentally: the casualties and trauma, but also the severe mental health burdens they will carry for life.

Armed conflict is a health crisis, especially for the women and children who bear its weight. For every health system that is shattered, another generation is left to reckon with the cost. 

We’ve also seen how conflict can lead to a resurgence of disease, such as the re-emergence of polio in Gaza decades after it was eradicated. Rising cases of mpox, bird flu, and another winter of COVID-19 and influenza remind us of the importance of global health security, and how much work we still have to do when it comes to preparing for the threat of infectious diseases.

Meanwhile, we feel the health impacts of our climate crisis every day, from extreme weather and drought to record levels of heat. Every one of these disasters has direct impacts on health, including the spread of vector-borne diseases like malaria and Dengue fever. But the downstream effects can be just as dangerous. We saw this in September when record flooding from Hurricane Helene devastated communities in North Carolina, leading to widespread water scarcity, damaged clinics, medication shortages, and more. The recent destruction wrought by Cyclone Shido in Mozambique and Mayotte is another tragic reminder of the costs of our climate emergency.

America’s character, as well as our strategic interests, will be reflected in how we engage with countries in crisis. 

The world has achieved incredible progress reducing poverty, sickness, and humanitarian suffering over the last 20 years, led in large part by the United States. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate-fueled disasters, and the spread of violent conflict have stagnated or even reversed some of these gains. 

More than ever, we have a responsibility to keep going: to push for increases in humanitarian assistance and the vital funding that saves lives, improves global health, and supports America’s own national security interests. Countries look to the United States for bold leadership in humanitarian crises and global health. When the U.S. demonstrates the universal American values of helping those in crisis, the world follows. Whether in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, Haiti, or the quiet crises that don’t make headlines, America stands tallest when we stand with those in greatest need. 

But the brave humanitarians who provide relief need protection more than ever as they are being attacked and killed at levels never before seen. 2024 was the deadliest year for aid workers in history: at least 280 humanitarians have been killed this year, including members of Project HOPE’s team in both Gaza and Ukraine.

We must continue to advocate for the vital humanitarian funding that sustains our lifesaving programs around the world. But nothing is more important than peace. For most crises around the globe, neither bombs nor bread, but diplomacy will bring lasting relief. 

Meanwhile, we are still living with the memory of how a single infectious disease can threaten the entire world’s security and test the very fabric of our society. The COVID-19 pandemic took a million American lives. But avian influenza, Zika, Ebola, and many more diseases have the same potential. Noncommunicable diseases, though less dramatic, remain the world’s number one killer — yet they receive just 2% of global health funding.

Helping countries address the threat of infectious and chronic diseases will strengthen global health and protect American security. The U.S. should expand, not contract, its investments in global health security using digital innovations that more efficiently and effectively deliver solutions to health.

But all of it depends on one critical element: a skilled and supported health workforce. The global shortage of health workers, while improving, is still expected to be more than 10 million in 2030. The U.S. must continue to increase focus and funding on this aspect of the health system. We can do better, and in doing so we can relieve pressure within our own health system.

I am incredibly proud of the impact Project HOPE’s global teams achieved this year: 4 million people reached, 2 million patients treated, and $79 million donated in essential equipment, medications, and medical supplies. Regardless of the changes and challenges 2025 will bring, we know our team will overcome them — because we believe health is a human right, that everyone deserves hope, and that together we can build a world where everyone can access the health care they deserve. 

Rabih Torbay is President and CEO of Project HOPE.