25 Stakeholder Groups ask Congress to Support the $16 Billion Funding Level for Pandemic Preparedness Included in the Build Back Better Act Passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee

September 28, 2021 – Today, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security joined 24 stakeholder organizations to submit a letter to Congressional leaders to support the $16 billion funding level for pandemic preparedness included in Division J of the Build Back Better Act, passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on September 15, 2021.

The stakeholder organizations strongly recommend that the Senate version of the Build Back Better Act also include at least $16 billion for pandemic preparedness. These funds will deliver tangible national tools and capabilities that the country needs to save lives, jobs, and money when we inevitably face future dangerous outbreaks.

1 in 500 Americans have died from COVID-19. And it’s estimated that the country has incurred $16 trillion in economic losses. As COVID-19 has shown, we must build our pandemic defenses, such as a reliable ability to rapidly produce and distribute effective diagnostic tests, vaccines, and therapeutics for both known and unknown viral threats; technologies that will provide early warning systems and real-time monitoring so we can detect and track the course of outbreaks with increased speed and fidelity; a sufficient and dependable supply of effective masks and medical supplies; cost-effective methods for improving indoor air quality to minimize unnecessary disruptions of school, religious services, and workplaces; and a stronger public health infrastructure to deliver services to the American people and protect all of us, including vulnerable Americans, from health threats.

Providing at least $16 billion for pandemic preparedness in the Senate version of the Build Back Better Act would jump start efforts to bring American ingenuity and resources to bear to meaningfully reduce the threat of future pandemics, if not eliminate their threat all together. We must do everything in our power to prevent a global pandemic like COVID-19, or worse, from happening again.

Read the full letter submitted to congressional leaders.