Disease Outbreaks

Strengthening public health systems to improve Global Health Security

Our Approach

Infection prevention and control is at the root of Global Health Security. Project HOPE works to strengthen public health systems so that communities can prevent the spread and outbreak of infectious diseases, detect possible outbreaks, and respond quickly to public health disease threats.

The increasing interconnectedness of our world means that health threats can travel and spread like never before, requiring greater preparedness and response mechanisms.

Around the world, Project HOPE:

Equips local health workers with the training and resources to respond to disease outbreaks
Strengthens infection prevention and control measures in clinics, hospitals, and labs
Enhances cross-sectoral mechanisms for coordination and communication related to outbreaks
Upgrades health infrastructure to improve early detection disease surveillance systems and implement electronic reporting
Enhances the capacity of local health systems to detect and respond to outbreaks
Assists health systems to strengthen immunization, outbreak, and antimicrobial resistance protocols

1.3-1.4 million

people contract cholera each year

In times of conflict, mass displacement, and disaster, cholera poses an acute threat to people already living through unimaginable chaos.

1,200

outbreaks of epidemic-prone diseases in 188 countries, since 2011

The threat of infectious diseases continues to grow as climate, conflict, and displacement increase the frequency of outbreaks.

6.9 million

people have died from COVID-19

In an increasingly interconnected world, emerging diseases like COVID-19 can quickly cross geographic and political boundaries.

The Context

New diseases emerge every year due to climate change, while globalization enables diseases to spread farther and faster.

Whether it’s cholera in Haiti and diarrhea in Sudan or deadly respiratory viruses like SARS (2002), H1N1 influenza (2009), MERS-CoV (2012), and Ebola (2014); these outbreaks have long-lasting effects on society, taking countless lives, threatening food security, destabilizing governments, and disrupting economies.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weak points of our health systems — a lack of preparedness and diminished capacity to prevent, detect, and respond in times of crisis. Furthermore, it exhausted our already strained global heath workforce and set back progress on child immunizations, mortality rates, and more.

With the entire world reeling from the fight against COVID-19 and nervously watching as new variants arise, the importance of improving global health security has never been clearer.

Project HOPE continues to address disease outbreaks in accordance with the goals of the World Health Organization’s One Health Initiative and the 2005 International Health Regulations.