Elon Musk's dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been linked to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with experts attributing significant deaths to the cuts. Musk, who led the so-called department of government efficiency (Doge) last year, admitted to accidentally cutting Ebola detection and response programs.
Impact on Ebola Surveillance
Jeremy Konyndyk, a former top USAID official who oversaw the agency's Ebola response in 2014-2015 and now president of Refugees International, stated that the cuts hindered surveillance and preparedness. "If global health programs hadn't been slashed, the outbreak would have been detected much earlier," he said. Davide Rasella, research professor at the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies and head of the Global Health Impact Assessment and Evaluation Group at ISGlobal in Spain, echoed this: "This is one of the reasons why there was not enough surveillance and preparedness for the outbreak of Ebola."
Musk's Denials and Evidence
Musk has claimed critics "cannot cite a single name of someone who died" and that if there were deaths, it would be worldwide headline news. When confronted with names of children who died due to cuts, Musk called a journalist "an utter piece of shit and a liar." He has also claimed without evidence that US tax dollars armed militants and corrupt politicians. However, Konyndyk noted that people are dying "in significant numbers in some places."
Broader Global Health Consequences
A Lancet study estimated that abolishing USAID entirely could result in 14 million deaths, including 4.5 million child deaths. Rasella, a co-author, stood by the estimates, stating, "It's difficult to pinpoint exactly how many will die, but the scale is unquestionable—millions over the next several years." The cuts have affected global health, nutrition, and education worldwide.
Legacy and Accountability
Konyndyk argued that Musk's demolition of USAID will be a defining part of his legacy. "He's scrambling to rewrite history now," he said. Musk applied a corporate model of cutting until people scream, then restoring, but Konyndyk noted, "Here the cost is literal human lives." Congress could have stopped the dismantling and still can, as USAID is required by law to exist, but remaining programs are choked by slow funding release from the state department.
Urgent Need for Action
Rasella called the cuts "absurd" after the Covid pandemic caused about 20 million deaths globally. "When you disrupt a single piece of that aid, you can create more damage to the entire system. This is just the beginning," he said. Konyndyk emphasized there is still time to act: "We have a window here to try and bring some of this back before the worst of the harms set in."
