Global Health Security

Global Health Security has become a priority for world leaders. The Ebola outbreak brought attention to the weaknesses in the systems of preparedness and response at the national, regional and global level. In response the UN, the WHO, the G7 and G20 as well as regional organizations such a the EU and the African Union have increased their resolve to address the global health security challenge at all Levels of governance.
In order to deal with the gaps a number of significant steps have been taken: WHO has been reformed to have better emergency capacity, the Global Health Security Agenda has been strengthened and now works as a partnership of over 60 countries to implement the International Health Regulations and meet measurable targets.
A joint assessment tool has been developed with the WHO to enable external assessments of a country's capacity to prevent, detect and respond. The commitment to Universal Health coverage has been rea_rmed. Private stakeholders – be it the International Aviation Association or the pharmaceutical industry – have become active to define their role and the Research community is galvanized to strengthen the commitment to new vaccines, diagnostics and treatments. Especially other sectors – like security, agriculture, travel and tourism – need to become a part of the global effort.
The challenge now is to create synergies between nation-states, international organizations and public & private stakeholders to accelerate Progress towards a world that is safe from threats posed by infectious disease, and to promote global health security as an international security priority.