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Global Health Security Initiative

Ministerial and Other Meetings

Communiqué
Ninth Ministerial Meeting of the Global Health Security Initiative
Brussels, December 5, 2008

We, Ministers/Secretaries/Commissioner of Health from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, today concluded the 2008 Ministerial Meeting of the Global Health Security Initiative (GHSI) in Brussels, which was hosted by the European Commission.

On the occasion of this Ministerial Meeting, we discussed key priorities for our collective preparedness and response to the threat of international chemical, biological and radio-nuclear (CBRN) terrorism and pandemic influenza; demonstrated our support for the accomplishments we have achieved together through this initiative; and identified future activities to advance our current and emerging priorities in global health security.

  1. Strengthening Global Health Security
    Our discussions today allowed us to deepen our common understanding of key elements that contribute to strengthened global health security, including in the following areas:

  2. Accomplishments in 2007-2008
    In the past year, through a range of technical, scientific and policy networks and initiatives, we succeeded in making progress addressing key risks to global health security. This progress stems from our collective efforts and common approaches in areas such as prevention, research, preparedness and response. In 2007-2008, our cooperation has included actions such as:

  3. Future Commitments
    Today, we also renewed our commitment to the GHSI and agreed to continue to take concerted action to improve our preparedness and response to global health threats. We identified the following priorities for work by the GHSI in 2009 and beyond:

Having reviewed the areas of work proposed by senior policy and scientific officials, we are satisfied that projected activities and timelines are consistent with our current priorities, and we emphasize the continued importance of the GHSI’s adaptability in preventing, preparing for and responding to new and emerging threats, including those related to the security of the food supply chain.

We welcomed the offer from the Minister of State for Public Health, United Kingdom, to host our next Ministerial meeting.

The statement was endorsed by the following Health Ministers, Secretaries and senior officials:

Source: Global Health Security Initiative

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