Biden’s legacy opportunity: A global initiative to end lead poisoning | The Hill

Every year, human exposure to lead through sources like paint and spices causes more deaths than malaria and HIV combined, at an economic cost of around $6 trillion, per a recent paper in the Lancet. The good news is that this crisis is a solvable one. Earlier this month at Davos, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced an ambitious call to action that, if implemented and sustained, could significantly reduce the burden of lead poisoning and save millions of lives around the world. A little over two decades ago, George W. Bush launched PEPFAR, an ambitious global public health program to combat AIDS that has since saved 25 million lives. Today, President Biden has the opportunity to create a similarly enduring global health legacy, building on his historic domestic efforts to get lead out of pipes. By increasing funding for programs to measure blood lead levels, track the major sources of lead exposure, and support governments in introducing and enforcing regulations, the United S

Every year, human exposure to lead through sources like paint and spices causes more deaths than malaria and HIV combined, at an economic cost of around $6 trillion, per a recent paper in the Lancet. The good news is that this crisis is a solvable one. Earlier this month at Davos, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced an ambitious call to action that, if implemented and sustained, could significantly reduce the burden of lead poisoning and save millions of lives around the world. A little over two decades ago, George W. Bush launched PEPFAR, an ambitious global public health program to