The Biden administration Friday announced creation of a new pandemic preparedness office within the White House. The goal is to ensure that America is better prepared to deal with the next pandemic. Photo by Laurence Kesterson/UPI |
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July 21 (UPI) -- The Biden administration announced Friday that to make sure the country is more prepared for the next pandemic, it is setting up an Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy within the White House.
"This will be a permanent office in the Executive Office of the President (EOP) charged with leading, coordinating, and implementing actions related to preparedness for, and response to, known and unknown biological threats or pathogens that could lead to a pandemic or to significant public health-related disruptions in the United States," the White House said in a statement.
The new office will be led by retired Major Gen. Paul Friedrichs, who previously served as joint staff surgeon at the Pentagon coordinating all health-related issues.
The new pandemic preparedness office will:
- Coordinate the administration's domestic response to public health threats with pandemic potential and strength pandemic preparedness.
- Drive and coordinate federal science and technology efforts related to pandemic preparedness.
- Develop and provide periodic reports to Congress and produce a report and preparedness outlook every five years.
Major Gen. Friedrichs is currently special assistant to the president and senior director for global health security and biodefense at the National Security Council.
He was U.S. representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Committee of Military Medical Chiefs, working closely with many of America's closest allies during the COVID-19 pandemic and in developing medical support to the Ukrainian military.
The new pandemic office will be overseeing efforts to develop, manufacture and procure the next generation of medical countermeasures.
"During the height of the pandemic, the Biden-Harris administration made historic investments in COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments that were made widely available," the White House statement said. "OPPR will continue to leverage these investments as it drives future progress in combatting COVID-19 and other public health threats."
Thursday the Biden administration said it will create a new division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services focused solely on coordinating responses to pandemics and other health emergencies.
The existing HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response (ASPR) will become its own operating division called the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.
