The Office of International Health and Biodefense (IHB) promotes global health security by encouraging foreign governments, the private sector, and civil society to take concrete steps to stop the spread of infectious diseases and treat those infected. This is one of the best and most economical ways of saving lives and protecting U.S. citizens from global pandemics and the spread of pathogens.
The United States takes an active leadership role in the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) to build a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats whether naturally occurring, accidentally released, or intentional. The GHSA is a multilateral and multi-sectoral initiative of nearly 70 countries and numerous private sector and non-governmental sector partners. Through GHSA, the United States encourages global partners to invest in basic health care systems and to strengthen health security across the intersection of human and animal health. IHB coordinates and facilitates the U.S. government’s implementation of its commitment to GHSA objectives and leads on U.S. diplomatic outreach to advance U.S. global health security objectives.
The United States strongly supports countries undergoing a Joint External Evaluation (JEE) – an independent, external evaluation of countries’ health security gaps conducted under the auspices of the WHO. Countries use JEEs to develop National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS), which are country-owned roadmaps for closing identified gaps. To date, nearly 100 countries have completed JEEs, and many have translated this evaluation into NAPHS. The United States has led by example, publishing a JEE in 2016 and a NAPHS in October 2018.