NTI Co-Sponsors Biosecurity Meeting Amid Ebola Crisis

Washington, D.C. — Non-governmental stakeholders will convene a one-day conference at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University on September 25, 2014 to discuss the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and their efforts towards GHSA implementation. The purpose of this event is to invite discussion of proposed priorities for the GHSA over the next five years, including action plans to curtail the current deadly Ebola outbreak. Since the February 2014 launch of the GHSA, international organizations and more than 50 countries have engaged in the Agenda, with the shared goal of taking action to create a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats—whether naturally occurring, or resulting from a deliberate or accidental release. The one-day conference will include a keynote speaker and a series of panels—comprising non-government and government speakers—to discuss the core objectives of GHSA: preventing and reducing the likelihood of outbreaks; detecting threats early; and ensuring a rapid, effective response. This will be followed by an afternoon poster session, where participating organizations will have an opportunity to showcase their projects, network and identify potential partner organizations.

Confirmed speakers include Dr. Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director-General for Health Security, World Health Organization; Laura Holgate, Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism and Threat Reduction, National Security Council; Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, Coordinator, Threat Reduction Programs, U.S. Representative, Global Partnership, U.S. Department of State; Andrew C. Weber, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs, U.S. Department of Defense; and Susanna Huovinen, Finnish Minister of Health and Social Services, as well as other experts in the prevention, detection, and response to infectious disease threats. NTI's Deborah Rosenblum will chair a discussion on early detection. 

See the full agenda here.

This meeting will also launch a new "Next Generation Global Health Security (GHS) Leaders" group, which is designed to provide young professionals with a platform to exchange ideas about the GHSA and empower them to contribute to implementing its goals. Young professionals and students are encouraged to attend and participate in the afternoon breakout session for next generation global health security leaders.

This conference precedes a governmental meeting on September 26, 2014, in which ministers from around the world will convene at the White House to highlight new commitments to accelerate progresstoward the goals of the GHSA.

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Media who would like to attend the event should contact Kathy Fackelmann, director of media relations at Milken Institute School of Public Health at 202-994-8354 or [email protected]. Or contact Cathy Gwin, senior director of communications at NTI, to reach Deborah Rosenblum or CORDS executive director, Nigel Lightfoot–[email protected] or 202-454-7706.

For more information or to register, click here.

This event will also be webcast.

The event is organized by the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, CORDS: Connecting Organizations for Regional Disease Surveillance, the UPMC Center for Health Security, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Elizabeth R. Griffin Research Foundation, and the CSIS Global Health Policy Center.

This event was made possible by CRDF Global, Fondation Mérieux, Skoll Global Threats Fund, and the United Nations Foundation.