Center for Health Security statement on Global Health Security Act

December 13, 2018 – A bipartisan group of US House members introduced The Global Health Security Act today in an effort to reaffirm US commitment to promoting global health security. The bill seeks to address two main issues: that US global health security staffing and activities are largely reliant on an executive order and not specifically supported in law, and that the United States needs a permanent designated official responsible for coordinating the interagency response to a global health security emergency.

Tom Inglesby, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, expressed support for the bill in a press release issued by co-sponsor Congressman Gerry Connolly’s (D-VA) office.

“The Global Health Security Act strengthens the way the United States works to protect, detect, and respond to major international epidemics,” said Inglesby. “It would help to codify the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), bring coordination to the relevant programs across agencies, and clarify responsibility for leadership of the effort. It builds on the early successes of the GHSA.”

The full press release and text of the bill are available at connolly.house.gov.

Global health security is an important focus area for the Center. This summer, the Center convened a meeting of more than 70 experts to gather recommendations on the forthcoming US Global Health Security Strategy. Also this summer, the Center brought together an international group of people from government, industry, and academia to discuss health security challenges in South Asia and to identify opportunities to collaborate on solutions. In addition, the Center runs ongoing biosecurity dialogues with experts and stakeholders from India and Southeast Asia. And in a November 2017 JAMA article, Inglesby and Senior Scholar Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, called for additional US government funding for GHSA to protect the world from epidemic disease.

About the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security:
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security works to protect people from epidemics and disasters and build resilient communities through innovative scholarship, engagement, and research that strengthens the organizations, systems, policies, and programs essential to preventing and responding to public health crises. The Center is part of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is located in Baltimore, MD.