January 31, 2020
From 2009 to 2019, PREDICT identified nearly 1,000 new viruses, including a new strand of Ebola; trained roughly 5,000 people; and improved or developed 60 research laboratories; Lawmakers' request for more information comes as a novel coronavirus has reached the U.S.
Senators Warren, King Question USAID on Decision to Shutter Global Infectious Disease Prevention Program
From 2009 to 2019, PREDICT identified nearly 1,000 new viruses, including a new strand of Ebola; trained roughly 5,000 people; and improved or developed 60 research laboratories; Lawmakers' request for more information comes as a novel coronavirus has reached the U.S.
Washington, D.C. -- United States Senator Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)
Committee, and Senator Angus King (I-Maine) sent a letter to the U.S. Agency
for International Development (USAID) requesting information regarding the
agency's recent decision to shutter PREDICT, a program established to identify
and combat viruses that may generate global pandemics, including the recent
coronavirus. These diseases pose a threat to the public health and safety in
the U.S. and abroad.
"Addressing and preventing the spread of coronavirus and potential
pandemic disease outbreaks is a serious matter that requires adequate resources
for and cooperation between experts throughout the federal government," wrote
the lawmakers. "That is why we write today to request information
about the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) recent decision
to shutter PREDICT, a program established to identify and combat viruses with
the capacity to generate global pandemics."
The USAID PREDICT program--launched in 2009 after the 2005 H5N1 bird flu
sparked global fears of an epidemic--was designed to help identify and combat
emerging pandemic threats like coronavirus. From 2009 to 2019, the PREDICT
program identified nearly 1,000 new viruses, including a new strain of Ebola;
trained roughly 5,000 people around the world to identify new diseases; and
improved or developed 60 research laboratories. Despite its success--and just
months before the emergence of 2019-nCoV--USAID announced that it would cease
funding the PREDICT program. In response to a November letter from Senator King
requesting information on the project's end, USAID indicated that it intends to
initiate a successor project -- but just two months away from the March 2020
closure of PREDICT, no additional details regarding this replacement have been
released.
"The rise of 2019-nCoV heightens the need for a robust, coordinated,
and proactive response to emerging pandemics--one of the roles that PREDICT
played," the senators wrote. "We are concerned that,
as the 2019-NCoV [']Wuhan coronavirus['] threatens public health in the U.S.
and abroad, programs like PREDICT are winding down rather than ramping
up."The senators have requested responses to their questions no later than
February 13, 2020.
As a member of the HELP Committee, Senator Warren believes in promoting the
country's public health and safety.
- Senator Warren recently joined her colleagues in pressing
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, requesting updates on
the Administration's response to the novel coronavirus outbreak and
information on the steps being taken to keep families safe.
- Earlier this month, Senators Warren and Edward J.
Markey (D-Mass.) requested
an update from the CDC on the agency's efforts to study the epidemiology
of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and prepare for the upcoming mosquito
season. Their letter
follows a record number of EEE cases reported nationwide in 2019, with 12
confirmed cases in Massachusetts and 3 deaths.
- In March 2019, Senator Warren discussed
the importance the importance of vaccines to preventing and controlling
disease outbreaks.
###
Next Article Previous Article
