U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s Center for Global Health

Description

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC)’s Center for Global Health (CGH) “works to protect Americans from dangerous and costly public health threats, including COVID-19, vaccine-preventable diseases, HIV, TB, and malaria—responding when and where health threats arise.”

Use of Funds

Funding supports CGH’s activities to help countries identify and stop health threats close to the source. It allows the CDC to respond rapidly in the case of a disease outbreak, accurately track global health threats travelers bring into the U.S., and protect Americans through research and development of diagnostics, drugs, and other technologies.

Justification

• The CDC is continually monitoring and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the CGH has provided technical support for a lab in Malawi, training on infection prevention and control in Vietnam, and investigation and contact tracing in Zambia.
• Funds will help address a severe worldwide shortage of public health workers and build relationships with ministries of health.
• CGH’s global health security investments have helped train more than 18,000 disease detectives in over 80 countries through its global Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP). These public health professionals work on the front line, helping to respond to health threats more rapidly and effectively.
• CGH’s global polio immunization work has made significant strides toward a polio-free future. Five out of six World Health Organization regions are now certified wild poliovirus-free—the African Region, the Americas, Europe, South East Asia, and the Western Pacific.