International response needed

Given that the coronavirus continues to spread and global death counts continue to rise, it is vital that the United States not only focuses on a national strategy but an international response.

The Guardian recently reported that many developing countries have little to no ventilators and a scarce amount of intensive care beds. Uganda, for example, has only 55 ICU beds for its 43 million citizens while Bangladesh has only 1,100 ICU beds for its population of more than 160 million. Furthermore according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the health budget of sub-Saharan African countries averages around $12.

These statistics demonstrate a lack of funding and equipment in developing nations, both of which are necessary to contain the spread of coronavirus. As part of the international fight against the coronavirus, the United States must invest a greater amount of its resources to ensure each nation is appropriately prepared to manage COVID-19 outbreaks.

Without an adequate strategy to respond on an international scale, the virus will continue to circulate around the globe and in the United States.

As an ambassador of the Borgen Project, a national organization that seeks to make global poverty a focus of U.S. foreign policy, I support the Global Health Security Act. This act can help impoverished countries weather the most devastating effects of the virus and contain the rates of infection worldwide. The Global Health Security Act will increase the U.S. government's efforts to support pandemic preparedness by establishing the Global Health Security Agenda Interagency Review Council.

In order to be successful in our fight with coronavirus, the United States must equate its own health and security interests with those of developing nations.

Remember, We are all in this together from Northbrook, IL to Hima, Uganda.

Ryan Metz

Deerfield