The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) is a voluntary, multi-sectoral partnership of countries, international organizations, and non-governmental stakeholders working to build national and global capacity to address infectious disease threats, whether naturally occurring, accidental, or deliberate. It was launched in February 2014 in Washington, D.C., with the United States, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH/OIE), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) among the founding participants.
GHSA was designed to accelerate implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005) and to operationalize a "One Health" approach linking human, animal, and environmental health. Its work is organized around technical Action Packages covering areas such as antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic disease, biosafety and biosecurity, immunization, national laboratory systems, real-time surveillance, workforce development, and emergency operations centers.
The initiative was extended in 2017 through the Kampala Declaration, which committed members to a second five-year phase (GHSA 2024) and set a target of helping at least 100 countries reach measurable health security capacity benchmarks. Progress is tracked partly through the WHO's Joint External Evaluation (JEE) tool, which scores countries against IHR core capacities.
Governance runs through a Steering Group of rotating member states, with a Secretariat and a Private Sector Roundtable. While GHSA itself does not disburse funds, participating donors — notably the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and USAID — have aligned bilateral assistance to its targets.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps the GHSA was meant to close: even countries with relatively strong JEE scores struggled with surge capacity, supply chains, and risk communication. Since 2020, debates over GHSA's relevance have intersected with negotiations on a WHO pandemic agreement and amendments to the IHR, raising questions about whether voluntary capacity-building can substitute for binding obligations and predictable financing.
Example
In 2017, ministers meeting in Kampala, Uganda extended the Global Health Security Agenda for a second five-year phase through 2024, with a goal of bringing at least 100 countries to measurable health security capacity benchmarks.
Frequently asked questions
No. GHSA is a voluntary political partnership. Binding obligations on disease surveillance and reporting come from the WHO's International Health Regulations (2005), which GHSA is intended to help implement.
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