Maj. Gen. Paul Friedrichs (ret.): “I cannot recall anything similar to this.”

Major General Paul Friedrichs (ret.), the inaugural director of the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR), is now a Senior Adviser at CSIS. In this conversation, Paul reviews the multiple changes in health security now unfolding in the first 100 days of the second Trump term. In biodefense, there is a wide-ranging degradation across different departments and agencies. The assault on the scientific research enterprise is leading to a retrenchment of innovation and US leadership in generating new technologies. That will lower our ability to subdue deliberate biological threats, rising accidental lab leaks, and the continued proliferation of naturally occurring biothreats. Resilience in America’s health infrastructure remains an open question, with shortages of 20,000-30,000 physicians and 300,000 nurses. Where does this all leave us? “It is as if you took all the health security plans of the past administration and asked: what can we do to make this country more vulnerable?” And what are we likely to see as early manifestations? Shortages of pharmaceuticals, higher prices, higher external dependence, especially upon China. Give a listen to hear more, including on the state of the two dangerous outbreaks in America—measles and avian flu (H5N1).