Round-up of GHSA Steering Group and Action Packages in 2015

GHSA Steering Group Secretariat; GHSA Preparation Task Force Team

Assistant Director General of the WHO Keiji Fukuda outlined WHO's support for the GHSA: WHO's role is to provide guidance, and it is important that all initiatives are coordinated and complementary. He further stressed that the GHSA emphasis on action is critical for WHO's mission. Dr. Fukuda described how the Ebola epidemic had raised awareness on health security issues and how the GHSA has assisted and complements the IHR. Dr Fukuda pointed out that health security issues are critical to everybody. He also stressed the importance of GHSA beyond Ebola, including countering antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and other emerging infectious disease threats such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus. Dr. Fukuda emphasized that it is of an utmost importance to bring existing streams (capacities) to work closer together. The lesson learned from Ebola was that three critical months were lost in the beginning. Making up for that lost time is important. In another situation, to lose three months is to lose the effort. He also highlighted the importance of monitoring implementation of the IHR core capacities and GHSA Steering Group and Action Packages S29 emphasized that self-reporting does not reflect what's really in place and what is needed. Dr Fukuda noted that the window is now open to make change in the system, but stressed that the time to act is now. The Director of the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Tom Frieden pointed out that we have a momentum for progress now. From the CDC's point of view, we have 3 critical needs to get rapid progress in global health security: (1) money, (2) trained and supported staff, and (3) accountability. There is a crucial and large gap in getting trained and supported staff. Reliable country assessments are critical from the donor perspective to identify gaps. Dr Frieden also emphasized that there are no conflicts between GHSA and IHR, and that GHSA should be seen as an invaluable tool and opportunity to advance IHR implementation.