The U.S. will work with 13 new countries and the Caribbean region to design roadmaps and build partnerships as part of efforts to achieve targets under a 55-nation initiative that aims to mitigate infectious disease outbreaks.
The White House said Wednesday the U.S. will join members of the Global Health Security Agenda in a meeting in Rotterdam, Netherlands that will run until Oct. 14.
The U.S. also formed bilateral commitments to partner with 31 nations and the Caribbean community to meet GHSA goals such as the development of five-year national roadmaps.
The U.S. government announced plans to invest more than $1 billion in resources to prevent, detect, and respond to future infectious disease outbreaks in 17 partner countries in July 2015.
All 17 countries have assessed GHSA target capacities and created five-year roadmaps that include input from sectors such as health, agriculture, livestock, development partners and non-government stakeholders, the White House noted.
Eighteen countries including the U.S. will undergo a World Health Organization Joint External Evaluation through the end of the week and more than 30 additional countries are scheduled to participate.
GHSA started in 2014 as a global partnership of countries, international organizations and non-governmental stakeholders that seek to address epidemic threats through collaborative efforts.
