Ending the Cycle of Crisis and Complacency in U.S. Global Health Security

A Report of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security

Kelly Ayotte, Julie Gerberding, J. Stephen Morrison

• Publisher: Center for Strategic & International Studies
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781442281462
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: National Security
• Index: Politics & International Relations

When health crises strike—measles, MERS, Zika, dengue, Ebola, pandemic flu—and the American people grow alarmed, the U.S. government springs into action. But all too often, when the crisis fades and fear subsides, urgency morphs into complacency. Investments dry up, attention shifts, and a false sense of security takes hold. The CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security urges the U.S. government to replace the cycle of crisis and complacency that has long plagued health security preparedness with a doctrine of continuous prevention, protection, and resilience. Such a strategic approach can restore U.S. leadership, strengthen financing and the speed of response, foster resilient health systems abroad, enhance the U.S. government's ability to operate in disordered settings, and accelerate select technological innovations to secure the future.

Table of contents

• About CSIS
• About the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security
• Acknowledgments
• Letter from the Co-Chairs
• Members of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security
• Executive Summary
• A World of Peril
• Bad Habits, Barriers, and Vulnerabilities
• A Moment to Change Course
• A U.S. Doctrine of Continuous Prevention, Protection, and Resilience
• Time to Act
• Appendix I: Illustrative Costing for Recommended Programs and Initiatives
• Appendix II: Congressional Authorities and Oversight of U.S. Government Efforts to Advance Global Health Security
• Appendix III: Glossary of Key Terms