BACKGROUND :

This side meeting will be divided into two segments, with a coffee break in between. During the first segment, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security will moderate a panel discussion with participants involved in an ongoing SE Asian Biosecurity Dialogue between Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, and the United States. This is a unique "Track 2" (non-Ministerial level) diplomatic dialogue that promotes engagement to improve national and regional response to natural, accidental, and deliberate biological events. Panelists from the biosecurity dialogue will explain the goals, topics, and benefits of track 2 health security dialogues, and will answer questions about how other regional dialogues could contribute to making the world safer from emerging infectious diseases. An interactive Q&A session will follow the panel. During the second segment, representatives from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Nuclear Threat Initiative will provide a briefing on the forthcoming Global Health Security (GHS) Index. The purpose of the GHS Index is to create a national-level assessment, which can be applied to all countries, drawing on publicly available information, and measured by an independent non-governmental entity. The GHS Index will seek to motivate regular commitments, financing and accountability, influence government decision-making on a regular basis, and – ultimately – help to improve pandemic preparedness. In consultation with an international panel of experts that includes 15 widely respected scientists and public health experts from 12 countries, two international organizations, and the World Bank, our project team has developed a framework of national indicators for health security to assess countries’ technical, financial, and political capabilities to prevent, detect, and respond to epidemics with international implications. An interactive Q&A session will follow.