USAID is a core partner for achieving the goals of the Global Health Security Agenda

The risks posed by outbreaks of infectious disease are not new, we know that, but in our interconnected world, they are intensifying.  To prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease outbreaks, we must work across all sectors of all governments and across nations in a concerted global effort.     

In November 2015, President Barack Obama named the next round of partner countries in the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and committed the United States to partnerships with, and support of, countries that are developing the capacity to prevent, detect and respond to future disease outbreaks.

GHSA was launched in February 2014 to advance a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats and to bring together nations from all over the world to make new, concrete commitments and to elevate global health security to a priority at the national leadership level. GHSA is a global effort, with central support from the U.S. Government, involving national governments, international organizations and civil society groups focused on accelerating progress toward achieving the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations and elevating global attention to the shared risks posed by infectious diseases.

The U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture and others, are working with ministries of health, agriculture, environment and other key stakeholders to detect viruses with pandemic potential, improve laboratory capacity to support surveillance, strengthen national and local capacities to respond in an appropriate and timely manner, and provide education on ways to prevent exposure to dangerous pathogens.

In July, 2015, the U.S. Government announced its intent to invest more than $1 billion to expand the GHSA in order to prevent, detect and respond to future infectious disease outbreaks. The GHSA effort addresses all potential infectious disease threats, whether they are naturally occurring, intentional or an act of bioterrorism. Among the effort’s essential components are laboratory systems, disease surveillance, emergency response and workforce development.  A key component is expanding capacities and approaches to “one health,” acknowledging that the health of animal, humans and the environment are inextricably linked.

Learn more about the Global Health Security Agenda.

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