U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius participated in the International Conference on Zoonotic Disease Prevention and Control with leaders from Vietnam, Indonesia and the United Nations. Jointly organized by the Vietnam Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and co-hosted with Indonesia, the conference is the first of its kind to convene senior level experts from nearly 30 different countries, international organizations, and government agencies to focus on international collaboration to prevent, detect and respond to diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans.
“Together with the Governments of Vietnam and Indonesia and our global partners, the United States is committed to providing technical expertise in developing policies, strengthening surveillance systems, building national capability on biosafety and biosecurity, enhancing the ability to test for priority zoonotic diseases, and building workforce capacity to respond to outbreaks better and faster,” said U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius at the opening ceremony.
The two-day conference served as a platform for accelerating international collaboration in support of the Zoonotic Disease Action Package, one of the 11 key action areas of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). One of the goals of the conference is to collectively develop an integrated, global plan of activities to combat zoonotic diseases, which will be presented at the upcoming inter-ministerial GHSA meeting in Seoul, Korea in early September.
In 2014, GHSA was launched as an effort by over 40 nations, international organizations, and civil society groups to accelerate progress toward a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats. In collaboration with international partners, the U.S. Government has been providing support to Vietnam’s government leaders and public health experts to enhance the prevention, detection, and response of disease outbreaks.
For more information about the Global Health Security Agenda work in Vietnam, visit U.S. CDC website and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) website.
