CDC's Center for Global Health Responds to Outbreaks
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CDC’s Center for Global Health Responds to Outbreaks Accessible version: https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/ resources/reports/annual/2021/index.html WWW.CDC.GOV/GLOBALHEALTH 1 Introduction This report, CDC’s Center for Global Health Responds to Outbreaks, publishes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic affects all Americans daily. The Center for Global Health (CGH) is focused on responding to COVID-19 in the United States (US) and abroad. CGH brings resources and knowledge built through partnership with other nations to fulfill our mission to improve the health, safety, and security of Americans and reduce morbidity and mortality worldwide. Protecting Americans from infectious disease threats is a top priority for the Center for Global Health. In CDC deployed staff gear on the Congo River in DRC, 2018. addition to the important work overseas to stop public health threats where they start, CGH’s global health professionals are translating lessons from decades CDC’s Center For Global Health of global health work to address the pandemic here in the US. In 2010, CDC established the Center for Global Health, recognizing that domestic and global health y Through deployments to local U.S. jurisdictions, are indivisible and that no country can protect the CGH’s global health experts are sharing their health of its citizens in isolation from the rest of knowledge and expertise in public health program the world. implementation and real-time data analysis and interpretation to inform and tailor local interventions. CGH’s Organization Division of Global Health Protection y CGH trains disease detectives at the national Division of Global HIV and TB and community level and is using CDC’s Global Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria Rapid Response Team to serve as surge technical Global Immunization Division experts for CDC’s domestic response. y CDC’s COVID-19 International Task Force CDC’s Global Health Mission conducted an in-depth review of other countries’ guidance, strategies, and experiences related CDC improves the health, safety, and to children returning to school to help inform security of Americans while reducing domestic recommendations. morbidity and mortality worldwide. This report highlights how CDC’s Center for Global Health Responds to Outbreaks—including how CDC’s Global Health Priorities CGH is drawing on existing capacities developed Health Impact: Save lives, improve health overseas in partnership with other nations to address outcomes, and foster healthy populations COVID-19. The report describes how programs within Health Security: Strengthen global public the Center for Global Health are adapting to the health prevention, detection, and response pandemic to continue addressing long-standing to protect Americans and populations global infectious disease threats. An infectious worldwide disease threat anywhere can become a threat everywhere. While CGH is laser-focused on the current Public Health Science Leadership: global pandemic, the work to monitor and respond Lead and influence the advancement of to additional global health threats must continue to global public health science and practice prepare for an unknown but inevitable next pandemic. 2 CDC’S CENTER FOR GLOBAL HEALTH RESPONDS TO OUTBREAKS CDC’s Global Health Work The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s typhoid, and COVID-19 can become widespread regional (CDC) mission to protect Americans from health threats and global threats. CDC experts and international includes collaboration with other U.S. government CDC-trained public health responders support the U.S. agencies and international partners. CDC is the U.S. mission to safeguard Americans at home and abroad. government lead agency for infectious disease outbreak CDC’s technical expertise supports global outbreak preparedness and response activities. CDC has a responses, building on relationships forged through programmatic presence both in the United States and decades of global health engagement addressing leading overseas. Translating knowledge and experience across causes of death. As part of the Global Health Security domestic and global health efforts is critical to effectively Agenda, CDC takes a lead technical role for developing detecting, responding to, and stopping epidemic threats. public health workforce, surveillance, laboratory, and The goal of CDC’s global health work is to improve emergency response capacities globally. Through these health outcomes and strengthen global health security and other initiatives, CDC builds capacities needed to by building the capacity of partner countries to detect respond to existing disease outbreaks and prepare for diseases and respond to and stop health threats. future threats. CDC’s forward-deployed staff are America’s In an increasingly interconnected world, infectious first line of defense to protect Americans’ health when outbreaks like measles, Ebola, Zika, polio, cholera, infectious disease outbreaks erupt around the world. Workforce is Crucial to Strengthen CDC’s Outbreak Response (2018-2019) Global Rapid Response Team Field Epidemiology Training Deployments Programs 1 108 WWW.CDC.GOV/GLOBALHEALTH 3 Polio campaign in Myanmar, 2016. Credit: Deblina Datta, CDC CDC’s Center for Global Health Builds Public Health Capacity The Center for Global Health (CGH) leads program eradication and elimination programs. This practice, known implementation to address the highest burden disease as public health capacity development, is defined as threats in the world. CGH staff and programs work to: building the knowledge, skills, commitment, structures, y Eradicate and eliminate diseases, including polio, systems, and leadership capabilities that enable public measles, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases health actions to improve health. Public health capacity building is at the core of CGH’s collaborative technical y End epidemics, including HIV and tuberculosis partnerships to implement and sustain science-based y Address emerging infectious diseases public health program interventions and strategies. y Accelerate the introduction of lifesaving vaccines Building global health capacities for outbreak preparedness y Strengthen public health systems around the world and response is possible. For example, since 2015, CDC has focused on building public health workforce, laboratory, y Plan, implement, and evaluate health programs with surveillance, and emergency response capabilities in partner countries’ ministries of health and by working 17 partner countries as part of a U.S. government effort with the Department of State and other U.S. government to improve global health security. These investments are agencies, including the United States Agency for showing promising results: International Development CDC country offices serve as a focal point and provide a All 17 countries have established or expanded connection between the wealth of expertise that exists at programs to train disease detectives, doubling the CDC headquarters and overseas to partners in-country. CDC number of Field Epidemiology Training Program teams posted overseas assist colleagues across the agency, graduates between 2015-2020. and provide linkages to ministries of health, U.S. embassies, 10 countries now have the capacity to conduct and other partners. Relationships established through CDC laboratory tests to detect their priority pathogens country offices build understanding of the local context and that cause disease, outbreaks, and deaths. culture. These relationships foster in-country collaborations that address many health challenges. 11 countries can now successfully detect and In coordination with other key programs at CDC, CGH works report antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. with countries to strengthen public health systems, train All 17 countries have established public health public health personnel to prevent, detect, and respond to emergency operations centers staffed by national, disease outbreaks, and implement science-based disease CDC-trained personnel. 4 CDC’S CENTER FOR GLOBAL HEALTH RESPONDS TO OUTBREAKS Dr. Amy Boore with Milton Makoba Wetake, Emergency Management Laboratory and Logistics specialist, at work at the Public Health Emergency Operations Center in Kampala, Uganda, 2020. Credit: Samuel Wasike Public Health Capacity Matters Public health capacities developed over time become Strong partnerships and CDC investments in Uganda’s assets that countries can draw from during public health public health system have been critical to the country’s emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. Partner ability to respond early to COVID-19. “Prior U.S. country capacity to address COVID-19 has been built on government investments in public health capacity are investments made through the President’s Emergency being utilized as part of Uganda’s COVID-19 response,” Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and global health security, said Dr. Amy Boore, CDC Uganda’s Global Health as well as through assistance provided to address Protection Director. emerging infectious diseases and known threats like Dr. Boore adds, “The biggest satisfaction of this year has malaria, tuberculosis, and polio. These programs are also been seeing what CDC, as an agency, has accomplished supporting country COVID-19 response activities including over decades of investment here. When we activated contact tracing, community engagement, and coordination for COVID-19 on January 26, 2020 the EOC here was of public health response efforts. activated for Ebola as well as five other outbreaks For