Citation

Brizee S, Budeski K, James W, Nalabandian M, Bleijs DA, Becker SJ, Wallace-Sankarsingh S, Ahumibe A, Agogo E, Ihekweazu C, Nikkari S, Ellis M, Gozzer E, Semesi IS, Masuku ZM, Ikram A, Tahir F, Makalinao I, Severance HA, van Passel MWJ, Cameron EE. Health Secur. 2019; 17(6): 495-503.

Affiliation

Sabrina Brizee, MSc, is a consultant, Global Biological Policy and Programs, NTI, Washington, DC, and International Project Officer, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Katherine Budeski is a Program Assistant; Wilmot James, PhD, is a consultant; Michelle Nalabandian, MFS, is Program Officer; Hayley Anne Severance, MPH, is Senior Program Officer; and Elizabeth E. Cameron, PhD, is Vice President; all in Global Biological and Policy Programs, NTI, Washington, DC. Dr. James is also a Visiting Professor of Political Science and Pediatrics, Columbia University, New York, NY. Diederik A. Bleijs,, PhD, is Head of the Biosecurity Office, and Mark W. J. van Passel, PhD, is Project Leader; both in the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Scott J. Becker, MS, is Executive Director, Association of Public Health Laboratories, Silver Spring, MD. Sacha Wallace-Sankarsingh, MSc, is Biorisk Manager, Laboratory Services and Networks, Caribbean Public Health Agency, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Anthony Ahumibe, MPH, is Senior Laboratory Technical Advisor; Emmanuel Agogo, MBBS, is Deputy Director General; and Chikwe Ihekweazu, MBBS, is Director General; all at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja, Nigeria. Simo Nikkari, MD, PhD, is Professor, Centre for Biothreat Preparedness, Helsinki, Finland. Maureen Ellis, MS, is Executive Director, International Federation of Biosafety Associations, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Ernesto Gozzer, MD, is Associate Professor, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru. Immaculate Sware Semesi, PhD, is a Member of Parliament, Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dodoma, Tanzania. Zibusiso M. Masuku is Biosafety Technical Manager, and Chair of the Institutional Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa. Dr. Aamer Ikram is Executive Director, National Institute of Health, Islamabad, Pakistan. Faheem Tahir, PhD, is Chief, Public Health Laboratories Division, National Institute of Health, Islamabad, Pakistan. Irma Makalinao, MD, is Professor and Special Assistant to the Dean, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/hs.2019.0121

PMID

31859570

Abstract

Biosecurity and biosafety measures are designed to mitigate intentional and accidental biological risks that pose potentially catastrophic consequences to a country's health system, security, and political and economic stability. Unfortunately, biosecurity and biosafety are often under-prioritized nationally, regionally, and globally. Security leaders often deemphasize accidental and deliberate biological threats relative to other challenges to peace and security. Given emerging biological risks, including those associated with rapid technological advances and terrorist and state interest in weapons of mass destruction, biosecurity deserves stronger emphasis in health and security fora. The Global Biosecurity Dialogue (GBD) was initiated to align national and regional donor initiatives toward a common set of measurable targets. The GBD was launched by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), with support from Global Affairs Canada's Weapons Threat Reduction Program and the Open Philanthropy Project, and in coordination with the government of The Netherlands as the 2018-19 Chair of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Action Package Prevent-3 (APP3) on Biosafety and Biosecurity. The GBD provides a multisectoral forum for sharing models, enabling new actions to achieve biosecurity-related targets, and promoting biosecurity as an integral component of health security. The GBD has contributed to new national and continent-wide actions, including the African Union and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's new regional Initiative to Strengthen Biosafety and Biosecurity in Africa. Here we present the GBD as a model for catalyzing action within APP3. We describe how the benefits of this approach could expand to other GHSA Action Packages and international health security initiatives.

Language: en

Keywords

Biosafety; Biosecurity; Emerging biological risks; Epidemic/pandemic preparedness; Global Health Security Agenda; Global catastrophic biological risk