PRESIDENT ’ S & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ’ S MESSAGE
Decision Making Through Uncertainty
From APHL President Megan Crumpler and CEO Scott Becker
On Wednesday , January 28 , APHL received a stop work notice on all our global health work due to the Executive Order regarding a freeze on foreign assistance . The stop work notice was retroactive effective January 24 , and its duration was for at least 90 days and possibly longer . At that time , it included all of our work under PEPFAR and Global Health Security . As a result , we had had no choice but to halt work in over 50 nations — including shuttering APHL offices in 10 countries — which affected more than 100 individuals based both in the US and internationally who supported this work .
While this decision was incredibly difficult for our affected staff and the broader APHL community , it also represented a tremendous setback for our work to strengthen laboratory systems serving the public ’ s health globally . This includes APHL staff sequencing mpox in Thailand and supporting emergency response to Marburg in Tanzania . It includes support for the Kakuma Ammusait Laboratory in Kenya — the first laboratory in a refugee setting to attain ISO accreditation . It includes the sequencing capacity in Honduras that APHL helped build from scratch . The opening and staffing of the 11th APHL country office in Botswana has also been halted .
While we hoped for a reversal of this notice when it was announced , all the above activities — and many , many more — were stopped .
Part of the reasoning for this drastic stoppage of such critical work was the association ’ s desire to protect our members and the association . During the pandemic , APHL built a very public reputation for being truth-tellers ; even though those within the public health community already knew of our reputation , others only became familiar with public health laboratories during that very turbulent time . We were , and still are , being overly cautious to ensure we can continue serving our members and deliver transparent , just-in-time facts and data so they can continue their vital mandates within their communities . As we are sure you are aware , making any kind of decision that is based upon changing information — especially those that affect the lives of our staff and members — is fraught with difficulties .
One thing that does not change , however , is the ability of our public health laboratory stories to deliver not only facts and data but also convey the value of public health laboratory science . In these times , it will be more critical than ever to convey the value of our work , as well as the financial impact on different communities , both domestically and internationally . What happens when rabies testing has to be paused due to a decrease in funding ? What about STI testing ? What if wastewater testing is put on hold during an epidemic ? What communities will suffer ? Stories like these are vital in conveying not only the financial value of our work , but the value to all of our partners and communities .
APHL continues to sort through the information on the executive orders and relevant court cases , and we are working through the challenges that the pause on communications from the Department of Health and Human Services has brought . We are seeing continued improvements in the communications flow between federal agencies and our members but it ’ s very much a work in progress .
As of March 1 , we were able to bring our Global Health staff back and are actively working with our country offices to deliver the services we are so passionate about across the globe . We will continue to share updates as we learn more and we are also keeping an eye on future developments that could continue to affect our members and staff , such as the impending reconciliation bill , as well as a potential shutdown of the federal government .
For almost 75 years , APHL has been a trusted messenger for our members and federal partners . Our commitment to safeguarding public health extends far beyond our national borders , and all of our colleagues are truly like family to us . Taking a moment to acknowledge the significance of the time we are in is natural ; we will continue our ongoing efforts to protect the health and wellbeing of the public . g
2 LAB MATTERS Spring 2025
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