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FILE PHOTO © AP / Alex Brandon
US Creates Permanent Pandemic Agency
Source:
RT
The
office will take over the duties of the White House Covid-19 response team
The
US government has launched a new agency to prepare for pandemics and other
“biological threats,” with President Joe Biden tapping a retired Air Force
general to spearhead the project.
The
White House announced the creation of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and
Response Policy (OPPR) on Friday. The agency will be tasked with devising a
response to public health crises, coordinating scientific research and medical
efforts against pandemics, and providing regular reports to Congress.
“This
will be a permanent office in the Executive Office of the President charged
with leading, coordinating, and implementing actions related to preparedness
for, and response to, known and unknown biological threats or pathogens,” the
White House said in a press release.
The
new office will be headed up by Retired Air Force Major General Paul
Friedrichs, who currently serves as a special assistant to President Joe Biden
and the Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense at the White
House National Security Council. Friedrichs previously worked as a joint staff
surgeon at the Pentagon, where he also advised the military’s Covid-19 task
force.
The
OPPR will formally come into existence on August 7, after which Friedrichs will
begin assembling a team. His responsibilities will include ensuring the
Strategic National Stockpile is well-equipped with medical supplies, and
working with Congress to procure funding for US preparedness efforts, according
to the New York Times.
In
addition to crafting a government response to future pandemics, the agency will
confer with industry, the scientific community and the Department of Health and
Human Services to develop the “next generation of medical countermeasures,”
including vaccines. Its work will focus on Covid-19, monkeypox, polio, avian
and human influenza, and RSV, among other pathogens.
Taking
over the role of the White House’s Covid-19 response team, which was shuttered
in May, the office was created under a sweeping government spending package
enacted in late 2022. It will be required to submit a “preparedness review” to
lawmakers every two years, and a separate “outlook report” every five years.
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Press Release from US Government – (20230721)
Major
General (ret) Paul Friedrichs Will Serve as the Inaugural Director
The
Biden-Harris Administration has made historic progress on our nation’s ability
to manage COVID-19 so that it no longer meaningfully disrupts the way we live
our lives. Under President Biden’s leadership, the Administration has taken
significant steps to ensure all individuals have continued access to lifesaving
protections such as vaccines, treatments, and tests, and that the nation is
well prepared to manage the risks of COVID-19 or other causes of potential
pandemics in the future.
As
part of the President’s commitment to ensure that our country is more prepared
for a pandemic than we were when he took office, the Administration is standing
up the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR). 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. OPPR will take over the duties of the current COVID-19 Response
Team and Mpox Team at the White House and will continue to coordinate and
develop policies and priorities related to pandemic preparedness and response.
To
lead this work, the President announced that Major General (ret) Paul
Friedrichs will serve as the inaugural Director of OPPR and Principal Advisor
on Pandemic Preparedness and Response as of August 7, 2023. Maj. Gen. (ret)
Friedrichs’ unparalleled experience makes him the right person to lead this
office. He is currently Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director
for Global Health Security and Biodefense at the National Security Council
(NSC). Maj. Gen. (ret) Friedrichs previously served as Joint Staff Surgeon at
the Pentagon, where he coordinated all issues related to health services,
provided medical advice to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and served
as medical adviser to the Department of Defense (DoD) Covid-19 Task Force.
The
Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy will:
Coordinate
the Administration’s domestic response to public health threats that have
pandemic potential, or may cause significant disruption, and strengthen
domestic pandemic preparedness. This includes ongoing work to address potential
public health outbreaks and threats from COVID-19, Mpox, polio, avian and human
influenza, and RSV.
Drive
and coordinate federal science and technology efforts related to pandemic
preparedness. Specifically, OPPR will oversee efforts to develop, manufacture,
and procure the next generation of medical countermeasures, including
leveraging emerging technologies and working with HHS on next generation
vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 and other public health threats. 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. OPPR will continue to leverage these investments as it drives future
progress in combatting COVID-19 and other public health threats.
Develop
and provide periodic reports to Congress. As required by statute, OPPR will
develop and provide to Congress a biennial Preparedness Review and Report and
Preparedness Outlook Report every five years.
Major
General (ret) Paul Friedrichs, Inaugural Director of OPPR and Principal Advisor
on Pandemic Preparedness and Response
Major
General Friedrichs is currently Special Assistant to the President and Senior
Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense at the National Security
Council (NSC). Prior to joining the NSC, Dr. Friedrichs most recently served as
the Joint Staff Surgeon and the medical advisor to the Department of Defense
(DoD) COVID-19 Task Force. Throughout his career he has worked closely with
Federal, State, Tribal, local, and territorial government partners, as well as
industry and academic counterparts and has been active in multiple professional
medical societies. Dr. Friedrichs has also overseen the DoD global patient
evacuation system, supporting global medical care and numerous interagency
domestic and global disaster responses. He led the DoD Task Force which
developed plans to implement high reliability medical principles across DoD and
stood up the Air Force’s first medical analytics capabilities. Over the course
of his 37-year career, he has led military hospitals and regional and global
health care systems, published multiple medical papers, and consistently sought
opportunities to partner with colleagues to improve health care delivery and
preparedness. As the United States’ representative to the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization Committee of Military Medical Chiefs, he worked closely with many
of America’s closest allies and partners throughout the pandemic and in
developing medical support to the Ukrainian military.
Dr?... General Friedrichs...
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