Laurie Garrett
Senior Fellow for Global Health
Expertise
Global health systems; chronic and infectious diseases; bioterrorism; public health and its effects on foreign policy and national security.
Programs
Global Health Program
Featured Publications
CFR Senior Fellow for Global Health Laurie Garrett discusses the rising vulnerabilities to the world's medicine and drug supply as a result of the increasingly globalized supply chain, and presents six steps the G8 and G20 states should take to combat the growing problem of counterfeit and substandard medicines and ensure the reliability of the world's drug and vaccine supply.
See more in Global Health
Laurie Garrett discusses the current state of global health programs.
See more in Financial Crises, Global Health
Most countries in the world have moved toward provision of systems of universal health coverage, enhancing affordability and access to medical care. Even as the U.S. Supreme Court debates legal standards for Americans, this report finds that risk-pooling is essential for affordable access to medical care in poor and emerging-market countries.
See more in Global Health
All Publications
Laurie Garrett discusses the arrival of man-made bird flu virus and the meaning behind a U.S. government advisory board's request that scientific journals not publish details about the virus's creation.
See more in Health, Science, and Technology, Biotechnology, Public Health Threats, Terrorist Leaders
Laurie Garrett says man-made killer bird flu is now a reality and asks if governments can--and should--try to stop it.
See more in Public Health Threats, Weapons of Terrorism, Terrorist Attacks
Laurie Garrett discusses the tenth anniversary of the post-9/11 anthrax attacks and argues, ""If 9/11 marked the single most powerful moment of American unity since Pearl Harbor, the anthrax mailings ushered the opposite..."
See more in United States, 9/11, Public Health Threats
Laurie Garrett discusses the FRONTLINE documentary, "The Anthrax Letters."
See more in United States, 9/11, Health, Science, and Technology, Global Health, Public Health Threats, Terrorism
Laurie Garrett discusses the tenth anniversary of the post-9/11 anthrax mailings.
See more in 9/11, Public Health Threats
Laurie Garrett says the movie Contagion serves as a warning that a globally coordinated and equitable response to any pandemic is needed.
See more in Health and Disease, Public Health Threats
Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, explores the lasting impact of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks that followed on disaster preparedness and health policy in the United States. Garrett argues that "all our readiness response depends on well-funded police, well-funded fire departments, well-funded hospitals, well-funded public health infrastructures, and precisely the opposite is where we are going right now." Garrett cautions that U.S. preparedness for a major terrorist attack may be decreasing. "As budgets are being cut at the federal level, the state level, and the local level, we're actually less ready than we were in 2001," Garrett says.
See more in United States, 9/11, Global Health
Famine in the Horn of Africa underscores the problems of an international foreign aid community struggling to keep up with its commitments at a time of a falling dollar and rising food prices, says CFR's Laurie Garrett.
See more in Horn of Africa, Economics, Food Security, Foreign Aid
Missing from the body of literature about 9/11 and the anthrax scare that followed is a sense of what 2001 felt like for those that experienced the events in a very personal way. This book bridges the divide and offers new insights into the period, presenting its profound implications for public health, mass psychology, governance, scientific integrity, social resilience and cohesion, criminal justice, and America's sense of itself.
See more in United States, Terrorist Attacks
Orin Levine and Laurie Garrett argue that the CIA's staged vaccination program in Pakistan, used to locate Osama bin Laden, has damaged the credibility of legitimate global health efforts.
See more in Pakistan, Intelligence, Global Health
With the UN meeting on AIDS funding this week, CFR's Laurie Garrett says the slow response to the AIDS epidemic was the single biggest failure in public health and argues the need to double funding for new treatments to stop the spread of the disease.
See more in Africa, Global Health
On the heels of the 30th anniversary since AIDS was recognized, the UN General Assembly will meet to discuss the next course of HIV/AIDS funding. CFR Senior Fellow for Global Health Laurie Garrett traces the initial failures to contain the spread of AIDS, and calls on international policymakers to adequately fund the combat of the deadly disease.
See more in Health, Science, and Technology, Global Health, Health and Disease, Public Health Threats
Laurie Garrett and Larry Kramer discuss the thirtieth anniversary of the first diagnosis of AIDS.
See more in Global Health, Health and Disease, Public Health Threats
In the aftermath of Japan's earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis, Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow for Global Health Laurie Garrett discusses the health concerns the country faces.
See more in Japan, Energy/Environment, Disasters, Environmental Pollution
Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow for Global Health Laurie Garrett criticizes NRC chair for sowing panic when he said Japan is understating health risks.
See more in Japan, Energy/Environment, Disasters
Laurie Garrett says the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has "launched a tsunami of panic that has spread further worldwide than the real tsunami that devastated much of Japan on March 11."
See more in Japan, Energy/Environment, Disasters, Global Health
While many questions remain about the problems at Fukushima nuclear plant, comparisons with the 1986 Chernobyl incident suggest Japan's government is taking the right steps to mitigate radiation damage, says CFR's Laurie Garrett.
See more in Japan, Energy/Environment, Disasters
A monthly e-newsletter with in-depth analysis of events and new developments in global health, from CFR's Global Health Program.
See more in Global Governance
Laurie Garrett says U.S. foreign aid overseas is "effective, bipartisan, and reflects the very best of America."
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, Foreign Aid
The White House's proposed budget for FY2012 tries to balance spending cuts with investment to boost competitiveness. CFR experts examine how well it handles deficit reduction, defense, foreign aid, and spurring innovation.
See more in United States, Economics, U.S. Strategy and Politics
Featured Press
HIV at 50+
Laurie Garrett moderated this panel at the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC. Doctors, researchers, and international policymakers discussed the implications of a growing HIV population over 50 years of age and what is required in order to address the new challenges in this aging population, in regards to medicine as well as research and policy.
Dual Uses for Avian Flu Research
Charlotte Howard of the Economist interviewed Laurie Garrett about the controversial bird flu (H5N1) research conducted by Dr. Ron Fouchier at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. Garrett discusses the contention surrounding duel-use research and the lack of international consensus regarding research regulation.
A Conversation with Peter Piot: No Time to Lose
Laurie Garrett interviews Peter Piot, who discovered the Ebola virus, about his new book No Time to Lose.
Map: Vaccine-Preventable Outbreaks

This interactive map visually plots diseases that are easily preventable by inexpensive and effective vaccines. The Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations has been tracking news reports on these outbreaks since the fall of 2008.
More About Laurie Garrett
See more at Laurie Garrett's personal website, lauriegarrett.com.