Letter to the Hon. Lindsey Graham, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the Hon. Richard Shelby, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs of the Senate Appropriations Committee - King, Warren Seek Strong Funding for Pandemic Threat Detection Programs Under USAID

Letter

Dear Chairman Graham and Ranking Member Leahy:

The global public health crisis caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a reminder of the need to ensure that our government agencies responsible for addressing and preventing disease outbreaks have adequate resources. Accordingly, we urge the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Subcommittee to include robust funding in the fiscal year 2021 appropriations bill for programs within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to strengthen global health security, particularly with respect to emerging zoonotic epidemic threats.

Congress has a long record of bipartisan support for USAID and other federal agencies that strengthen America's role in identifying and researching zoonotic diseases and implementing other initiatives to promote this aspect of global health security. For example, when funded, USAID's PREDICT Program strengthened the international community's capability to detect and discover zoonotic viruses with pandemic potential, trained epidemiologists and other health officials, facilitated international data sharing, and conducted zoonotic diseases research.

As the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus challenges public health systems and threatens lives and livelihoods around the world, it is more essential than ever that the research and other missions performed by USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats programs continue unabated to prevent, mitigate, and reduce the spread of future zoonotic viruses. By funding these programs, Congress strengthens public health system capacity in countries where there is a high risk of emerging or zoonotic disease. Therefore, we encourage the Subcommittee to pay particular attention in its appropriations process to supporting the collection and analysis of data on unknown viruses and other pathogens, as well as a mechanism for the countries to efficiently share that pandemic threat data. We look forward to working with the Subcommittee to secure this funding in order to ensure America's strong investment in global health security that improves the lives of Americans and communities worldwide.

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