Victory Cuts Invite Comebacks

Updated: 2025.08.22 2M ago 3 sources
After steep declines, the U.S. stopped direct TB program funding in 1972, only to see a resurgence in the late 1980s. Capacity that seems 'excess' during quiet periods is exactly what prevents costly rebounds. — It cautions against post‑crisis budget cuts in public health and biodefense that erase institutional muscle needed to prevent resurgence.

Sources

Why North America’s Drug Decriminalization Experiments Failed
Adam Zivo 2025.08.22 80% relevant
The piece argues Portugal’s early gains unraveled after 2008 austerity cut treatment capacity and police stopped citing users, paralleling the documented pattern where program cuts invite disease resurgence (e.g., TB).
How Deeply Trump Has Cut Federal Health Agencies
by Brandon Roberts, Annie Waldman and Pratheek Rebala, illustrations by Sam Green for ProPublica 2025.08.21 60% relevant
Less than five years after COVID-19, the reported attrition of public‑health specialists and inspectors mirrors the historical pattern where post‑success cutbacks erode capacity and increase the risk of disease resurgence and slower outbreak response.
The end of tuberculosis that wasn’t
Fiona Spooner 2025.06.30 100% relevant
Congress halted TB funding in 1972; cases and deaths then rose in the late 1980s as new pressures (HIV) hit a weakened system.
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