The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the Government of Uganda will assume responsibilities as co-Chair of the GHSA Action Package for Biosafety and Biosecurity (APP3) for the 2021-2022 term beginning in November of this year.

This is the first time the group will be chaired by a government and regional organization in collaboration.

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) led APP3 through the 2020-2021 term, working to increase collaboration among all Action Packages, advance regional approaches to capacity development, and improve awareness and visibility among national stakeholders. CARPHA’s leadership saw increased information sharing and partnering across the group, significantly advancing progress toward the targets outlined in the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). According to Dr. Joy St. John, Executive Director, “the level of participation displayed in the past year by Africa CDC and Uganda suggests that there will be an exciting year of achievement ahead. CARPHA looks forward to the direction that will be given, and I expect the numbers of participants to grow and the group’s contribution to be game changing and progressive.”

The incoming co-Chairs thank CARPHA for their leadership and efforts to advance global biosafety and biosecurity and look forward to continuing collaboration with them in the coming term.

The Action Package Prevent-3 (APP3) Biosafety and Biosecurity is a collection of experts and leaders across sixty plus countries and nongovernmental organizations that seek to advance global biosafety and biosecurity capacity under the auspices of the GHSA.

The GHSA serves as a catalyst for attaining a world safe and secure from global infectious disease threats and seeks to elevate global health security as a national and international leader-level priority. The GHSA is a collaborative multi-sectoral initiative, bringing together 65 countries representing nearly six billion people, regional and international organizations, and nongovernmental and private sector partners to build and strengthen health security capacity. The GHSA seeks to: Prevent and reduce the likelihood of outbreaks – natural, accidental, or intentional; Detect threats early to save lives; Respond rapidly and effectively using multi-sectoral international coordination and communication.

For more information about the group please visit https://ghsa2024.org/biosecurity-biosafety/