Mar 13 2015
Today, the world is looking to the United States for cutting-edge diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines that could have the last word on an Ebola outbreak that is down but not out. But those innovations are the product of past US investments in research and development (R&D). With funding at risk for global health R&D at places like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a new report probes the perils of this underinvestment and the rewards to be gained at home and abroad from renewing US leadership in global health technology development.
The report comes from the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), an influential alliance of 25 organizations that are developing the tools and technologies to address existing global health challenges like HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and Ebola, and fight emerging threats like dengue, Chagas disease, and chikungunya. The analysis arrives as the Ebola response is highlighting both the strength and weakness of US global health policy: weakness in a failure to advance R&D efforts years ago, but also strength in the speed and collaborative spirit with which both the public and private sector in the United States have moved decisively to accelerate innovations already in the pipeline.
Expect a lively discussion from leading voices in global health on the importance of US engagement in a world where most experts believe Ebola will be neither the last nor the worst global health threat we will face in our lifetime.
WHO:
- Joanne Carter, Executive Director, RESULTS (moderator)
- Dr. Daniel Bausch, Consultant, Clinical Team, Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases, WHO
- Ann Mei Chang, Executive Director, USAID Global Development Lab
- Representative, HHS [invited]
- Representative, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [invited]
WHEN: Thursday, March 26, 2015 from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. (lunch with be provided)
Kennedy Caucus Room (SR 325), Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC
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