Meeting

Data's Role in Preventing the Next Pandemic

Monday, February 14, 2022
REUTERS/Michaela Rehle
Speaker
Rick A. Bright

Deputy Assistant Secretary and Office Director, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Presider
Jennifer Nuzzo

Senior Fellow for Global Health, Council on Foreign Relations

Global Health Program

Over the past fifteen years, global health has been threatened by Ebola epidemics in West Africa, the emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the spread of Zika through the Americas,and the 2009 influenza pandemic. The tolls of each event have been exacerbated by inadequate data systems. Ongoing struggles to track the global spread of COVID-19 demonstrate the need to fix problems in existing surveillance for infectious diseases.

Explore More on Public Health Threats and Pandemics

Public Health Threats and Pandemics

Fentanyl and the U.S. Opioid Epidemic
Opioid addiction has become one of the United States’ biggest killers, endangering public health, the economy, and national security. But closing the floodgates on fentanyl poses a significant foreign policy challenge.

Backgrounder by Claire Klobucista and Mariel Ferragamo December 22, 2023

Health

What Does the CDC Do?
The federal agency has a broad mandate to protect Americans’ health and an expansive global reach. But the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of its most daunting challenges.

Backgrounder by Claire Klobucista August 24, 2022

World Health Organization (WHO)

What Does the World Health Organization Do?
Since its postwar founding, the UN agency has garnered both praise and criticism for its response to international public health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Backgrounder by CFR.org Editors June 2, 2022

Top Stories on CFR

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Global Perspectives on the AI for Good Global Summit Link

via Council of Councils May 28, 2024

North Korea

The North Korean and Chinese Threats Are Growing. But so Is the Trilateral Response.
With renewed support from Russia and China, there are fears that a North Korean crisis is coming. In light of this, the trilateral security relationship among the United States, Japan, and South Korea has reached a new level of cooperation.

Blog Post by Sue Mi Terry May 28, 2024 Asia Unbound

South Africa

South Africans Poised to Shake Up Their Governing Status Quo
The provincial and national elections on May 29 come amid waning support for the ruling African National Congress thirty years after South Africa transitioned to democracy.

Expert Brief by Michelle Gavin May 23, 2024