HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt Inaugurates Office for the U.S.-China Collaboration in Emerging and Re-Emerging Diseases

December 13, 2006 - U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Michael O. Leavitt spoke at the inauguration of the Program Office of the China-United States Collaboration in Emerging and Re-Emerging Diseases, a joint venture of HHS and the Chinese Ministry of Health in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.

The collaboration will focus particularly on influenza. As of November 29, 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 21 human cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza, with 14 fatalities.

At the inauguration of the new program office, Dr. Wang Yu, Director of the China Centers for Disease Control, spoke about HHS-supported programs, such as the Global AIDS Program, the China Field Epidemiology Training Program, research awards supported by the HHS/National Institutes of Health, and the evolving joint program in emerging and re-emerging diseases.

While at the collaboration offices, Secretary Leavitt toured the Chinese national, real-time disease-surveillance data-collection system, which provides up-to-date information down to the township level about 37 reportable diseases prevalent in China, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, schistosomiasis, and influenza.

Last revised: November 20, 2007