Biden administration announces new partnership with 50 countries to quell future pandemics

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe BidenThe U.S. administration will help 50 countries identify and respond to infectious diseases, aiming to prevent pandemics like the COVID-19 outbreak that suddenly disrupted normal life around the world in 2020.

U.S. government officials will work with countries to develop better testing, surveillance, communication and preparedness for such outbreaks in those countries, according to a senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on the program on Monday on condition of anonymity. . The official did not share a list of countries that will participate in the program.

The announcement comes as countries struggle to reach global agreement on responses to future pandemics. Four years after the coronavirus pandemic, prospects for a pandemic treaty signed by all 194 members of the World Health Organization are slim.

The US program will rely on several government agencies – including the US State Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health and Human Services and the US Agency for International Development, or USAID – to help countries refine their response to infectious diseases.

Congo is a country where work has already begun, the official told reporters. The American government is helping the Congo in its response to an epidemic of the mpox virus, in particular through vaccination. Smallpox, a virus from the same family that causes smallpox, creates painful skin lesions. Last year, the World Health Organization declared mpox a global emergency, with more than 91,000 cases spread across 100 countries to date.

The White House released a website Tuesday with the names of countries participating in the program. Biden officials are seeking to get 100 countries on board with the program by the end of the year.

The United States has devoted billions of dollars to this effort. Biden, a Democrat, is asking for $1.2 billion for global health security efforts in his annual budget proposal to Congress.