U.S. Government Participates in Fifth Annual Global Health Security Agenda Ministerial Meeting

On November 4-6, 2018, Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan will attend the Fifth Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Ministerial Meeting in Indonesia, which will officially launch the next five-year phase of GHSA, known as GHSA 2024. Delivering on President Trump’s commitment to global health security, he will lead the multi-sectoral U.S. delegation, including representatives from the Departments of Health and Human Services, State, Defense, Agriculture, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the National Security Council.

In Indonesia, the U.S. delegation will hold bilateral meetings with government officials from GHSA member countries to discuss ongoing collaborations between the U.S. and our partners on global health security. At the meeting HHS Secretary Alex Azar will deliver a video message and Deputy Secretary Hargan will deliver remarks on behalf of the Trump Administration, reaffirming U.S. support for GHSA and underscoring the goal to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious diseases.

Following the GHSA Ministerial Meeting, Deputy Secretary Hargan will travel to Thailand and Laos to underscore the U.S. commitment to global health security and to meet with partners in the region who are crucial to our efforts in addressing global health security concerns such as influenza, artemisinin-resistant malaria, dengue, and tuberculosis.

On November 7, Deputy Secretary Hargan will travel to Thailand where he will visit the CDC Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute laboratories, Bumrungrad Hospital, and meet with his Thai counterparts as well CDC staff in country. This is the 200th year of friendship between the U.S. and Thailand, and his visit will highlight the important work on health we do together as nations. On November 9, Deputy Secretary Hargan will arrive in Vientiane, Laos, to meet with the Ministry of Health before traveling back to the U.S. on November 10.  Laos is an important partner in our global efforts to combat emerging and re-emerging disease threats.

Additional information regarding Deputy Secretary Hargan’s meetings is forthcoming and will be released via social media posts.

Background:

Launched in 2014, GHSA is a worldwide effort to help build countries’ capacity to help create a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats and elevate global health security as a national and global priority. Through a growing multisectoral partnership of international organizations, non-governmental stakeholders, and more than 60 countries, GHSA is accelerating efforts to build countries’ capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious diseases.