In the wake of the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the international spread of Zika, the ongoing transmission of antimicrobial resistance, and the ever-present threat of another influenza pandemic, global health security has taken on a new level of importance. In line with the agenda that has been set to deal with these problems, Sydney, Australia was home to the over 800 member Global Health Security community this week as they met to participate in the first International Scientific Conference on Global Health Security. Participants came from over 65 countries, representing academia, local, national and international governmental and non-governmental organizations, public and animal health and security professionals, and the private sector, all committed to advancing global health security.
CfHSS represented by its executive director, Dr Michael Owusu, made a poster presentation at the forum.
The Director also signed the Sydney Statement on Global Health Security. The statement reads “Global health security is a state of freedom from the scourge of infectious disease, irrespective of origin or source. It is achieved through the policies, programmes, and activities taken to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from biological threats. There are numerous challenges that pose significant risk to global health security, including a wide array of pathogens that present an existing and ongoing threat to both individual and collective health, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the emergence of currently untreatable infections, the potential for deliberate use of a biological weapon, and the synthesis of eradicated or novel pathogens.”
CfHSS would like to thank the CDC and APHL for their continuous support.
