The Institut Pasteur and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the occasion of the Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO), in Geneva, last week. The agreement unites the efforts of these two organizations – both leaders in the field of global public health – by creating a framework for shared and lasting actions to benefit public health and health security at the international level.
Press release
Paris, may 27, 2009
The Memorandum of Understanding signed* by the Institut Pasteur and the U.S. CDC will reinforce the exchange of information and the realization of collaborative actions around the globe, notably with regard to initiatives supported by the WHO aiming to improve global health security and fight infectious disease. The objective is to optimize the response of both institutions by enhanced coordination, particularly during emergency situations such as the outbreak of new epidemics. The accord helps strengthen the ongoing exchange and circulation of information between these two institutions.
The leadership of the Institut Pasteur and the U.S. CDC hope furthermore to unite their efforts to implement the International Health Regulations (IHR) through a mutually agreed-upon approach. As a result, the two institutions will improve their ability to work closely with international bodies and provide technical support to countries in need, particularly in the areas of evaluation of needs for surveillance programs and the implementation of action plans.
The Institut Pasteur and the CDC also expect to reap long-term benefits by providing an improved response to emerging challenges in the field of international public health.
* The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Alice Dautry, president of the Institut Pasteur, and Stephen B. Blount, director of the Coordinating Office for Global Health at the CDC, in the presence of Yves Charpak, director of International Affairs at the Institut Pasteur, and representatives of WHO led by Guénaël Rodier, director in charge of International Health Regulations (IHR) at WHO.
About the Institut Pasteur
The Institut Pasteur is a private non-profit foundation that is world-renowned for its work in the field of biological research. Located in Paris, its researchers study life forms of all types, with a particular focus on infectious disease (HIV/AIDS, Chikungunya, malaria, influenza …), as well as genetic conditions, neuro-degenerative diseases, and cancers that pose a threat to global health. The Institut Pasteur is at the heart of an international network bringing together 32 research institutes located on every continent. One of the primary vocations of the Institut Pasteur International Network (RIIP) is to protect the health of populations in the countries where it works. RIIP member institutes perform a wide range of public health and service activities, notably including support for national health programs. In addition to these quotidian enterprises, RIIP institutes are linked into an international network that can be mobilized to respond to outbreaks and contain epidemics using the latest techniques and in partnership with worldwide bodies such as the WHO.
www.pasteur.fr.
About the CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is an American public health agency operating under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC contributes expertise via surveillance for emerging threats to public health, as well as health promotion and prevention of disease, disability, and injury. The CDC has a history of building public health capacity, including global disease control, which has accelerated in recent years with the establishment of the Global Disease Detection (GDD) program, CDC’s most visible program for developing and strengthening the ability to identify and respond to emerging infections around the world. CDC has established six GDD Regional Centers in each of the six WHO regions: Thailand, Kenya, Guatemala, China, Egypt, Kazakhstan.
http://www.cdc.gov.
Contacts
Institut Pasteur Press Office
Marion Doucet ou Nadine Peyrolo – + 33(0)1 45 68 89 28 - presse@pasteur.fr
Coordinating Office for Global Health, CDC
Kathryn Harben - +1(404)639-7407 – kxh9@cdc.gov
