Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention (REDI) Center

Remarks by Claude A. Allen, Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

May 24, 2004

As Prepared for Delivery

Claude A. Allen, Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, U.S. Dept.  of Health & Human Services

Good afternoon. It is a pleasure for me to be with you on behalf of President George W. Bush and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson. This is an exciting day for us, and a step forward for global public health and security.

President Bush and Prime Minister Goh (pronounced like “GO”) announced the creation of this Center last October during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Forum in Thailand. President Bush and the United States recognize that what affects the public health of one country, effects the health of the entire world.

Diseases like Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) do not know borders, and therefore our efforts to prevent and eradicate diseases must be fought on a global scale.

HPAI and SARS demonstrate how valuable the Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention, or REDI Center, will be once it is in operation. New or re-emerging diseases are becoming an annual occurrence requiring a coordinated regional response to control and prevent them.

We recognize the important role disease prevention and public health play in regional economic growth. The REDI Center will allow the United States and Singapore to assist Asian countries in tracking, controlling, and researching emerging infections with appropriate resources and expertise to minimize the effects of disease.

The REDI Center will focus on naturally-occurring emerging diseases, such as SARS and HPAI, but also health security threats including bio-terrorism concerns.

The Center will extend the perimeter of defense for emerging infectious diseases and health security threats, widen the international network for research in emerging infectious diseases, and translate the findings of research into improved public health.

Efforts will feed into the existing surveillance efforts coordinated by the World Health Organization and will build upon the Initiative on Strengthening Health Security announced at APEC.

The Center will further provide a base for training of public health officials, researchers, clinicians, and others health professionals. Their emphasis will be on surveillance and rapid response to emerging infectious diseases and health security threats, as well as clinical research, laboratory techniques and safety, and regulatory practices.

Our hope is that this Center will act as a catalyst for regional collaboration on research related to infectious diseases of particular relevance to the Asia-Pacific region like SARS, influenza, dengue, West Nile Virus, and other emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

The Center will serve as a focal point to develop new vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tests that will allow governments to detect, treat, and prevent these new threats.

Singapore will be a great resource for economies in the Asia-Pacific region as they respond to new health threats, whether they be naturally-occurring or bioterrorist incidents.

The first research will include work on SARS-specific vaccines and collaboration on pandemic influenza surveillance in anticipation of future outbreaks. Rather than allow these diseases to further disrupt any of our economies in the Asia-Pacific region, we are going to fight them before they become an issue.

And this will not only be inclusive of the United States and Singapore. The REDI Center will be open to participation by other Asia-Pacific economies, and we welcome their support.

The United States government, and specifically the Department of Health and Human Services, looks forward to working with our fellow Asia-Pacific countries to make the Center a great success.

Within HHS, our National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), all of which are represented here today, are all looking forward to this collaboration.

Thank you for inviting me to be with you, today, and I look forward to hearing about the great successes that will come out of our REDI Center.