The Biden administration will help 50 countries identify and respond to infectious diseases, with the goal of preventing pandemics like the COVID-19 outbreak that suddenly halted normal life around the globe in 2020.
U.S. government officials will offer support in the countries, most of them located in Africa and Asia, to develop better testing, surveillance, communication, and preparedness for such outbreaks in those countries.
The strategy will help "prevent, detect, and effectively respond to biological threats wherever they emerge," Biden said in a statement Tuesday.
The Global Health Security Strategy, the president said, aims to protect people worldwide and "will make the United States stronger, safer, and healthier than ever before at this critical moment."
The announcement about the strategy comes as countries have struggled to meet a worldwide accord on responses to future pandemics. Four years after the COVID pandemic began, the are flailing.
Talks for the treaty are ongoing, with a final text expected to be agreed upon next month in Geneva. It's meant to be a legally binding treaty that obliges countries to monitor pandemic threats and share scientific findings. But major disputes have emerged over vaccine equity and transferring the technology used to make vaccines.
Even if a deal is hammered out, there would be few consequences for countries that choose not to abide by the treaty, as is the case with nearly all treaties brokered by the United Nations.
The U.S. will push on with its global health strategy to prevent future pandemics, regardless of a pandemic treaty or not, a senior administration official told reporters on Monday.
Several U.S. government agencies -- including the State Department, the CDC, HHS, and the Agency for International Development -- will help countries refine their infectious disease response.
Health systems around the globe have been overwhelmed with COVID-19 and other health emergencies such as Ebola, malaria, and mpox, the CDC said in a statement. The new strategy will help countries rebuild their agencies, the agency explained.
"Global health security is national security, and CDC is proud to contribute its expertise, investments, and rapid response to protect the health and safety of the American people and the world," Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, the CDC's director, said in a statement.
Congo is one country where work has already begun, the official told reporters. The U.S. government is helping Congo with its response to , including with immunizations. The WHO declared mpox a global emergency, in 2022, with more than 91,000 cases spanning across 100 countries to date.
The White House on Tuesday released a website with the names of the countries that are participating in the program. Biden officials are seeking to get 100 countries signed onto the program by the end of the year.
The U.S. has devoted billions of dollars, including money raised from private donations, to the effort. Biden is asking for $1.2 billion for global health safety efforts in his yearly budget proposal to Congress.