Dear all GHSA Colleagues,
Sawasdee from Thailand!

It was a pleasure serving as the Chair of the Global Health Security Agenda Steering Group this past year. One year ago (November 2020), Thailand assumed the role as Chair as we hosted the 6^th GHSA Ministerial Meeting. Exactly, one year later, Thailand hosted the GHSA Leadership Meeting, and handed over the role to the new Chair, Italy.

The year in between those meetings was a challenge. Every member country and organization continued to work tirelessly to deal with the immediate COVID-19 response, while having to find a balance to prioritize time, resources, and personnel for GHSA commitments and improving preparedness. Throughout the year, Thailand continued to put forth best efforts, while learning from the challenges in moving toward the GHSA 2024 Target. Despite the shared challenges, GHSA stakeholders routinely came together to continue making progress toward building country, regional and global health security capacities.

This would not have been possible without the stable support of the previous GHSA Steering Group Chairs, notably that of the Netherlands who served as Chair in 2019 and 2020. The driving force and work of the four GHSA Task Forces and nine GHSA Action Packages, aligning with the Steering Group, the Permanent Advisors and the Secretariat, ensured that the GHSA mechanism would overcome the obstacles that obstruct our objectives.

Thailand remains committed to the GHSA. Thailand will continue its role as a Permanent Steering Group member, as the lead of the Workforce Development Action Package, as the co-lead of the National Laboratory Systems Action Package, and as participating members of the Biosafety and Biosecurity Action Package and Antimicrobial Resistance Action Package. Thailand will also continue to implement the GHSA concept of utilizing the One Health and the multisectoral approach and coordination and apply it at the subnational level, especially along border areas and at points of entry. The work of global health security never sleeps.

And now, we are honored to confidently handover the Chair role to our friends in Italy who will continue to carry the torch in this time of uncertainty.

Warm regards,
GHSA Thailand

Message from the Incoming Chair (Italy)

Dear members, colleagues and friends of the GHSA,We are delighted and honoured to serve as the Chair of the GHSA Steering Group for 2022.

Thanks to the work of all Member States, in particular to the activities carried out under the Thailand Chair during some of the most dire moments of the Covid-19 pandemic, the GHSA itself can contribute to define future actions to counter the global risks posed by infectious diseases.

There are many challenges we still have to face, but the multidisciplinary method of the GHSA as a global model for a One Health approach will help us to prevent, detect and respond to infectious threats.

Our primary role will be to contribute to the definition of strategic guidance by the Steering Group itself, with the prioritization of GHSA activities, the monitoring of the implementation of the objectives and the facilitation of coordination and communication among Member States. 

We are already working as Chair to achieve these objectives through actions aimed at:

• increasing the involvement of GHSA Members who are not active in the Action Packages,
• increasing the exchange of information, expertise and collaboration between the various Action Packages and Task Forces,
• showcasing and taking advantage of all the work done in measuring the efforts and results of different countries, in order to best fulfill the mandate and achieve the objective described in the 2024 Framework

Moreover, during its mandate, the Italian Chair will commit to increasing participation in the GHSA at the national level, through collaboration with other Ministries, in order to facilitate engagement also in the non-health sector, promoting a “holistic” system action.

We are confident that these actions will allow us to highlight, also at a communication level, the added value of the GHSA.

We are convinced that this work will prove to be of great importance, as well as being necessary, to better position the GHSA in the broader scenario of health security, considering how much this area is currently an objective in constant evolution, given that actors and regulations are changing rapidly due to the impetus prompted by Covid-19.

On the other hand, in our opinion, the above-mentioned elements highlight the importance of the GHSA and its work, which is carried out through collaboration among the Member States and in connection with other international institutions, in particular the WHO, the OIE and the FAO.

Until the next time, with kind regards,

GHSA Italy 

Outputs from the GHSA Steering Group and Leadership Meetings

The 3^rd GHSA Steering Group Meeting of 2021 was held on November 17-18, 2021 in a hybrid/virtual format for Steering Group members and the GHSA Leadership Meeting was held in Phuket, Thailand on November 19, 2021 for all GHSA members.

Over 45 GHSA member countries and organizations were represented at the Leadership Meeting. The meeting was held to reaffirm the long-term GHSA vision through reviewing successes and challenges, while identifying a concrete way forward, as defined in the Meeting Readout.