Global Health Security

Description

Global Health Security programs at USAID support the prevention, detection, and rapid response of emerging disease threats to stop outbreaks from spreading and improve countries’ ability to prevent, detect and respond to public health threats.

What does it buy?

Funding maintains and grows the U.S. cadre of deployed disease detectives stopping outbreaks at the source, reduces the threat posed by pandemic influenza and ensures a “One Health” focused approach to reducing the threat of emerging zoonotic diseases.

Why is it important?

• Global Health Security programs provide support to priority countries to improve capabilities to stop disease outbreaks at the source before they become international crises that require billion-dollar responses and threaten neighboring areas.
• Global Health Security programs have helped countries like Cameroon and Liberia (ground-zero for Ebola in 2014) shorten their response times to outbreaks from weeks to just 24 hours.
• Investments in developing countries have led to better preparation for and responses to disease outbreaks. Uganda can now make quick diagnoses and implement rapid response mechanisms, quelling Ebola cases crossing over the border with neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo where the disease has killed more than 2,236 as of January 2020.

Why should Americans care?

• Infectious disease outbreaks—whether naturally occurring, deliberate, or accidental—and other emerging global health threats are increasing in both frequency and severity. Factors such as globalization, urbanization, climate change, and the ease of travel and trade mean that dangerous pathogens are more easily transported and spread around the world. As seen with recent outbreaks of Ebola and Zika, infectious diseases that were traditionally thought to impact only non-U.S. regions now have direct consequences for the health of Americans.
• Infectious diseases kill millions, cost billions, and exacerbate political and economic instability and insecurity. When calculated in terms of lives lost, economic consequences, and global instability, infectious disease outbreaks pose an immeasurable cost when not rapidly stopped.

What more could be done?

• In addition to USAID, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) perform critical Global Health Security work. The CDC’s work is funded in the Labor Health and Human Services Bill through the Global Public Health Protection line, which is in the report that accompanies the bill. Additional funds for the CDC could accelerate the capacity of countries to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks.
• Congress should maintain the USAID Emergency Reserve Fund and CDC Infectious Disease Rapid Response Fund accounts at $100 million to ensure a quick response to outbreaks is resourced properly.
• Additional funds could increase response time to international disease outbreaks, shortening the outbreaks, decreasing the number of people impacted—including Americans.