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Last week, Dr. Nathan Wolfe, Stanford biology professor and director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative (GVFI) joined Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report to discuss GVFI’s work in developing a system to detect future pandemics before they happen. GVFI focuses on monitoring infectious diseases that could ‘jump’ from animals to humans in the future, and maintains field sites in more than fifteen countries. Through its research, GVFI has created a pilot global early warning system for new diseases. During the interview, Colbert described how his 91-year old mother used to decide as a child whether or not to go to school each year based on whether polio was present in her community at the time, and questioned whether that scenario could happen again. Polio, which has been eradicated from the United States due to innovations in health technologies like vaccines, may never return to the US, but Dr. Wolfe stressed that there is an incredible amount that scientists do not yet know about how viruses evolve and move from animals to humans. He added that diseases we have never heard of may one day be in our backyard. Amid jokes about Ebola in the movies and who gets to name the next new disease, Colbert and Wolfe got serious about the need for heightened attention to the interconnected environment we live in and its effect on how disease spreads. Dr. Wolfe noted that “if you look at airplane routes, and the way we move boats, and animals around, we’re this sort of large mixing vessel of microorganisms, and it means that a virus that pops out of Central Africa or Southeast Asia has the potential to get here to New York or Tokyo in a matter of days. And that’s something that we should all be very concerned about and take very seriously.” While Colbert knows how to joke about any subject, it’s clear that this issue is not a laughing matter. Global diseases know no borders. Groundbreaking research and development into technologies to combat the diseases of today—coupled with surveillance of the possible pandemic threats of tomorrow—are critical resources for providing us with the knowledge and tools to be ready for whatever is ahead.

GHTC Director Kaitlin Christenson attended Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech at the National Institutes for Health (NIH) yesterday and blogged her reaction to the address for Breakthroughs. To a room full of dignitaries, US policymakers, members of Congress, research leaders, and global health advocates at NIH yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that in the midst of difficult budget times, “investing in our future is the smartest investment we can make.” The Secretary spoke with pride and hope about the historic leadership that the US government has played in advancing progress to combat HIV and AIDS, and the need to stay the course—even as Congress considers budget cuts which may affect global health and HIV and AIDS funding—as we work toward the previously unimaginable goal of an AIDS-free generation. "An AIDS-free generation would be one of the greatest gifts the United States could give to our collective future." -Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at speech on Tuesday. Photo: Wendy Stone/PATH During her speech, Clinton highlighted the numerous advances made possible through an investment in science by the US government: American scientists were the first to report the AIDS epidemic; NIH research provided proof that HIV causes AIDS; the US government supported the development of the first drugs to treat AIDS; and continued US investments are supporting the search for a vaccine, microbicides, and other tools. But she could have added even more successes to this list. In the past two years, US-funded research has: Led to the first-ever proof of concept that both an HIV vaccine and a vaginal microbicide could work. Provided evidence that treatment of individuals who are HIV positive can actually help prevent new infections--potentially reducing the risk of transmission up to 96%. Shown that once-daily pills can work to reduce the risk of HIV in high-risk groups. It is scientific advances like these that will lead us to a new era in the AIDS epidemic, and US policymakers must do all that they can to protect our investment in the research that will yield the new tools that are so critically needed. In Washington, she joked, some would prefer that we operate in an “evidence-free zone.” But she called on all of us to stand up for science and evidence, and keep our focus on the future, urging us to consider what the world would look like if we succeeded in our goal of an AIDS-free generation. “That is the world that has always been at the core of American belief, and we have worked toward it in our own history. It’s the world I think we all would like to live in. An AIDS-free generation would be one of the greatest gifts the United States could give to our collective future.” Thanks to the scientific advances in recent years, the global community is finally positioned to end the AIDS epidemic. The US government must answer Secretary Clinton’s call to keep the momentum going and seize this historic opportunity.

Today, the GlobalPost’s “Global Pulse” blog posted a series of video interviews that GHTC conducted with prominent Americans and leading US health officials about why Americans should care about global health and research. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be delivering a major speech on the HIV and AIDS pandemic at the National Institutes of Health. Clinton’s speech is expected to highlight US leadership in research and innovation for HIV and AIDS, particularly in developing treatment and prevention tools. Against that backdrop, the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group promoting global health research and development, interviewed prominent Americans and leading US health officials on why Americans should care about the issue. Here are the short responses from actress Whoopi Goldberg; Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.); US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg; and Amie Batson, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Global Health at the US Agency for International Development. We’d also like to hear from you. In the Comments section, leave a note or send a link to a YouTube video explaining why Americans should care about global health research. Amie Batson on Why Americans Should Care about Global Health Research: FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg: Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass): Whoopi Goldberg: