USAID Announces New Project to Strengthen Systems that Prevent, Detect, and Respond to New and Emerging Health Threats

Today, the United States Agency for International Development announced a new project that will strengthen the capacity of our partner countries to prevent, detect, and respond to the increasing occurrence and severity of epidemics, pandemics, and novel infectious disease threats.

Under the new project, Strengthening Infectious Disease Detection Systems (STRIDES), USAID will work with partner countries to build more reliable, safe and secure laboratory and disease surveillance systems, as well as more effective data management and reporting platforms - systems that are critical to preventing new and emerging infectious disease threats from spreading widely and rapidly.

In more than 50 countries, USAID is strengthening the specific components necessary for strong global health security(link is external) and pandemic preparedness. The work of STRIDES will be integral to these efforts, and to USAID's role in achieving the United States commitment to apply a whole-of-government, science-based approach to strengthening global health security, as laid out in the U.S. Global Health Security Strategy(link is external) and the National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan for Countering Biological Threats, Enhancing Pandemic Preparedness, and Achieving Global Health Security(link is external).

STRIDES will be implemented by a consortium led by FHI 360 and consisting of other partners including PATH, Black & Veatch and Panagora Group, and six regional-based public health organizations: Amref Health Africa, African Society for Laboratory Medicine, Prisma, Africa One Health University Network, Southeast Asia One Health University and The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network.