If Donald Trump is elected President of the United States on 5 November, the implications for global health, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region will be significant and wide-ranging, according to leading experts from the Burnet Institute.
Below their article are links to other reports.
Caroline Homer, Elissa Kennedy, Brendan Crabb, Suman Majumdar, Chad Hughes and Paul Rathbone write:
The United States election is upon us in less than a week. While US citizens are the only ones eligible to vote, the result will impact the whole world, including Australia and our region.
Key issues that are of concern that have global ramifications and impacted by the outcome will be global health security, health equity and social justice, climate change, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Reproductive health rights are likely to be significantly impacted with abortion continuing to be a flashpoint topic.
A second Trump Presidency is likely to see a reduction in funding for global health programs through USAID and for multilateral agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Reproductive rights at risk
UNFPA has the mandate to uphold and protect sexual and reproductive health and rights, reduce preventable maternal mortality and remove harmful practices like female genital mutilation and gender-based violence. Without sustained and guaranteed funding, their capacity to fulfil their mandate is at risk.
There is also a high likelihood of the reintroduction of the Global Gag rule restricting funding of all agencies working on sexual and reproductive health directly impacting millions of women and adolescent girls, the result of which will be many unwanted pregnancies, increases in unsafe abortion, maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity and worsening gender inequality and inequity.
A decline in global sexual and reproductive health and rights will impact on Australia.
We have also seen several states espousing conservative anti-abortion promises and legislation, even in the recent Queensland election. Australian women have fought hard over decades to ensure a legal right to abortion and for choice in reproductive health care.
Further erosion of those rights in the US will filter into the Australian context, further impacting women’s right to choose what is right for themselves and their family.
A second Trump Presidency potentially means a rollback on some environmental policy.
Climate change effects health in many ways, directly through the impacts of extreme heat, fires and floods, and indirectly through increases in vector-borne infectious disease, respiratory illness due to a reduction in air quality, and reduced availability of nutritious food and clean water.
Any further slowdown in addressing climate change, through both addressing its cause and mitigating its impacts, would likely worsen these health outcomes.
A second Trump Presidency is likely to result in less funding for the Global Fund on issues such as HIV, TB and malaria and a focus more on domestic health policy. There is also the potential for global health security initiatives to be undermined resulting in less international cooperation on future pandemic responses.
Trump’s policies have previously focused on America First so distribution of US manufactured medicines, vaccines and diagnostics globally or especially to resource-poor countries could be impacted especially during health crisis and future pandemics.
Finally, a second Trump Presidency will be filled with a proliferation of misinformation and disinformation.
This is already played out in the election campaign and in multiple campaign rallies that he and JD Vance, the Vice-Presidential candidate, have held.
If Kamala Harris is elected
A Harris Presidency would likely be quite different when it comes to global health.
Based on historical policy positions of the Democrats, we can expect to see a status quo or an increase in funding for global health issues, including continued support for WHO and the Global Fund with further funding for USAID for international development on matters such as HIV, malaria and TB, together with an increase in funding to support sexual and reproductive health and health system strengthening.
A Harris Presidency would likely provide greater support for matters such as international collaborations on pandemics and the pandemic accord, health equity and health security, as well as other global health issues such as maternal and child health including vaccinations.
A Harris presidency is more likely to engage widely internationally in addressing climate change and the associated health issues.
What does this all mean for Australia?
A Trump Presidency will impact on Australia and the Asia-Pacific region significantly.
The Australian Government will need to be ready to increase the level of funding support for international development and global health initiatives, including sexual and reproductive health, as well as for research and policy development around climate change and health.
More than ever, greater sovereign and regional capacity and collaboration will be key to delivering a healthier and more prosperous Asia-Pacific. Australia will need to step up to this challenge.
Author details
Below are the details of the authors, from the Burnet Institute
Professor Caroline Homer AO is Deputy Director – Gender Equity, Diversity & Inclusion; Co-Head, Global Women’s and Newborn Health Group
Dr Elissa Kennedy is Co-Program Director, Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health; Co-Head Global Adolescent Health
Professor Brendan Crabb AC is Director and CEO, and Co-Head, Malaria Virulence and Drug Discovery Group. He is also Chair Australian Global Health Alliance and Chair Pacific Friends of Global Health
Associate Professor Suman Majumdar is Chief Health Officer – COVID-19 and Health Emergencies
Chad Hughes is Deputy Director, International Operations; Head, International Development
Paul Rathbone is Chief of Staff.
More reports
See Croakey’s archives on the 2024 US election and also see this presentation by Bruce Wolpe
