Global healthRecommendations for U.S. global health security strategy

Investments in global health security programs at the federal level directly benefit U.S. national security and the economy by helping to prevent the cross-border spread of infectious disease outbreaks in other countries.

That was the overarching theme of a daylong discussion among more than 70 experts convened by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security on 30 July 2018, in Washington, D.C., to gather stakeholder input on the forthcoming U.S. Global Health Security Strategy. Drafted by the Trump administration and due to Congress this fall, the strategy will guide continued U.S. government work to build outbreak detection and response capabilities in nations all over the world.

Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security says that meeting participants indicated the U.S. strategy should:

·  Include a definition of global health security that is flexible, but retains a focus on health security;

·  Call for meaningful integration of the nongovernmental sector into global health security efforts;

·  Recognize that continued US investment is necessary to sustain global health security and to promote U.S. interests;

·  Establish clear targets by which to measure progress; and

·  Address gaps in existing global health security efforts.

A summary report written by the Center provides detailed descriptions of each of these major recommendations. This report will be shared with US government agencies and departments that oversee global health security programs.

CHS notes that the Center has long been an advocate of effective global health security policy. In a November 2017 JAMA article, Center authors outlined why the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA)—a formal, international initiative launched in 2014 to keep the world safe from infectious disease threats—needed additional U.S. funding to ensure its long-term sustainability beyond the approaching expiration of an initial $1 billion U.S. investment. An omnibus spending bill passed by Congress earlier this year included 3 years of “bridge” funding for GHSA work at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the bill also directed the White House to create a Global Health Security Strategy.