I became a family nurse practitioner because I have always believed we should help others simply because it’s the right thing to do. It’s why I am proud to call Utah home. We live in a state where serving a neighbor, showing up when someone needs help and keeping our communities strong are woven into our way of life.
But recent measles outbreaks across the United States have reminded us that caring for one another sometimes requires looking beyond our own neighborhoods.
Viruses do not ask about political beliefs or county lines. They simply infect who they can. As divided as conversations about politics can feel, there is one thing we all agree on: We want our families and communities protected from harm we can prevent.
That is where global cooperation matters, especially through institutions like the World Health Organization. Diseases do not respect borders. An outbreak thousands of miles away can reach an American airport in less than two days. The WHO is often the first to detect outbreaks, coordinate responses and help stop threats at their source before they reach places like Salt Lake City, Provo or St. George.
Their work benefits Utahns every year, sometimes without us realizing it. The annual flu shot, updated each year based on data from laboratories around the world that track how the flu virus mutates, is shaped by this global collaboration. Without that global network coordinated by WHO, our flu vaccines would be less effective, putting Americans — especially seniors and children — at risk.
WHO’s impact has been even broader. Global immunization efforts coordinated by the organization have saved 154 million lives since 1979 — that’s a life saved every 10 seconds. And smallpox, a disease that killed 300 million people in the 20th century alone, was eradicated because nations, including rivals like America and the Soviet Union, worked together through the WHO. These are not distant statistics; they are proof that when the world works together, families everywhere, including here in Utah, are safer.
Through collaboration with the WHO and other global health agencies like UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the U.S. has been a leader in making the world healthier and safer. These efforts extend the same values we cherish in Utah, including compassion, service, responsibility and caring for the vulnerable, to families around the world.
Supporting global health programs is a clear win-win that reflects our community values and is also a practical investment in our own safety. Stronger disease surveillance abroad means fewer outbreaks reach our Utah clinics and schools. Better vaccine access overseas means fewer global health emergencies. When the world is more protected, Utah is more protected.
We do not have to agree on every public health policy to recognize the value of preventing suffering and strengthening global systems that keep our communities safe. Caring for our global neighbors does not diminish our care for our own families; it reinforces it.
In January, the U.S. is set to formally withdraw from our membership in the WHO, but that should not be the end of this partnership. For these reasons, I respectfully urge Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis and Rep. Burgess Owens to support continued U.S. engagement with the World Health Organization. Partnership with the WHO helps protect Utah families, strengthens global health security and reflects the generous, community-minded spirit that defines our state.
When we work together to support global health, we protect our own futures. And when we strengthen the world’s ability to respond to disease, we help give every child a shot at life.