Brasilia, November 03, 2020: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. government institution responsible for combating disease, opened its new South America regional office in Brasilia, Brazil on October 29, 2020. The new regional office strengthens CDC’s ability to meet its mission of protecting Americans by responding more rapidly to health threats wherever they occur and building key relationships to tackle shared health priorities.
“The United States is one of the strongest advocates of global health security in the world, in addition to being the single largest bilateral health donor, and these commitments have special importance within our own hemisphere,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II said at the opening event. “Creating the CDC South American Regional Office is vital to building a sustainable presence around the world, including in South America. We intend for this office to work with every single country in the region to improve health security, and we believe the regional model is the best way to maximize this engagement over the long term.”
South America faces public health threats stemming from emerging diseases, humanitarian crises, changing ecosystems, urbanization, and the resulting habitat loss, travel, and migration issues. The rapid spread of Zika across the Americas and to other countries and territories on the North and South American continents is a compelling example. CDC is uniquely suited to increase engagement and collaboration with South American leaders to better protect the US from health threats.
“CDC’s regional approach advances global health security and maintains a sustainable global presence,” said CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, MD. “It allows CDC the flexibility to focus efforts and to deploy staff and other resources where they are most urgently needed – such as responding to outbreaks at their source, providing technical assistance, and advancing programmatic objectives that improve health.”
U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Todd Chapman stressed that “establishing this regional office here in Brazil reiterates the importance of bilateral and regional collaboration in the area of health. Our joint work has rewarded good results, especially in the last year fighting COVID-19, and this is the right time for us to work in a more systematic and synchronized way with other countries in the region.”
Juliette Morgan, MD, is the new CDC South America regional director. She will develop a global health security strategy for the region and coordinate global health security activities. In collaboration with CDC country offices, she will implement headquarter programs, and work with other relevant stakeholders.
Since diseases know no borders, CDC is establishing other regional offices around the world to advance U.S. global health security goals and build and maintain a sustainable global presence. CDC recently established regional offices in Eastern Europe/Central Asia (Georgia), the Middle East/North Africa (Oman), and Southeast Asia (Vietnam).
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
CDC works 24/7 protecting America’s health, safety, and security. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America’s most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.
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For further information on this Press Release, please contact the U.S. Embassy Press Office in Brasília at BrasiliaEMBEUA@state.gov or on (+55 61) 3312 – 7367 / 7350 / 7364. Follow us on Twitter and Flickr.
