While a surge in the new and deadly H7N9 avian influenza in China has grabbed the global health community’s attention, the U.S. government is ramping up its own efforts — and solidifying international and interagency partnerships — to combat the threat of these international pandemics.
The Obama administration is launching on Thursday its new Global Health Security Agenda, “a White House-led effort to consolidate U.S. government efforts across the health and security sectors” and help create “a unified global effort” to address threats posed by global infectious diseases.
“This is probably the most comprehensive effort in recent memory to address the problem of infectious disease threats and to bring different parts of the U.S. government and other governments together to try and address it,” Scott Dowell, director of Global Disease Detection and Emergency Response at the CDC Center for Global Health, told Devex.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
