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The Neglected Dimension of Global Security:
A Framework to Counter Infectious Disease Crises
The Ebola crisis in West Africa was both a tragedy and a wakeup call, revealing dangerous deficiencies across global systems to prevent, prepare, and respond to infectious disease crises. To address these shortcomings and inform a more effective response in the future, the National Academy of Medicine convened the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future (GHRF Commission)—an independent, international group of experts in finance, governance, R&D, health systems, and the social sciences.
The Commission’s report, The Neglected Dimension of Global Security: A Framework to Counter Infectious Disease Crises, was published on January 13, 2016. The report highlights the essential role of pandemic preparedness in national security and economic stability—a critical but often under-examined dimension of the global conversation post-Ebola. Importantly, the report demonstrates that the impact of infectious disease crises goes far beyond human health alone—and that mitigation, likewise, requires the mobilization and long-term commitment of multiple sectors.
Workshop Summaries
As part of its workplan, the Commission received input from evidence-gathering workshops on the following topics: governance for global health; financing response to pandemic threats; resilient health systems; and research and development of medical products. Published summaries of these workshops are now available.
Videos from U.S. and Asia Report Release Events
Commissioners
The GHRF Commission was made up of 17 international experts in governance; finance; disease control; surveillance; workforce mobilization; humanitarian and pandemic response; health systems; public-private partnerships; social science; and research, development, acquisition, and distribution. Commissioners were screened for conflicts of interest to ensure their independence. See commissioner biographies >>
Peter Sands, MPA (Chair)
Former Group Chief Executive Officer
Standard Chartered PLC
Senior Fellow
Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School
Oyewale Tomori, DVM, PhD (Vice Chair)
President
Nigeria Academy of Sciences
Ximena Aguilera, MD
Director, Center of Epidemiology and Public Health Policies
Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile
Irene Akua Agyepong, DrPh, MBChB, FGCPS
Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate
Ghana Health Service
Yvette Chesson Wureh, JD
Establishment Coordinator
Angie Brooks International Centre for Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace & Security
C/O The University of Liberia
Paul Farmer, MD, PhD
Kolokotrones University Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Cofounder of Partners in Health
Maria Freire, PhD
President
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
Julio Frenk, MD, MPH, PhD
President
University of Miami
Lawrence Gostin, JD
University Professor of Global Health Law
Georgetown University
Faculty Director
O’Neill Institute on National and Global Law
Gabriel Leung, MD, MPH
Dean
Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine
University of Hong Kong
Francis Omaswa, MBBCh, MMed, FRCS, FCS
Executive Director
African Center for Global Health and Social Transformation
Melissa Parker, DPhil
Reader in Medical Anthropology
Department of Global Health and Development
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Sujatha Rao, MA, MPA
Former Secretary
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India
Daniel Ryan, MA
Head of R&D – Life & Health and Big Data
Swiss Re
Jeanette Vega, MD, MPH, PhD
Director
Chilean National Health Fund
Suwit Wibulpolprasert, MD
Vice Chair
International Health Policy Program Foundation
Health Intervention and Technology Assessment
Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
Tadataka Yamada, MD
Venture Partner
Frazier Life Sciences
International Oversight Group
The NAM formed an International Oversight Group (IOG), a global body of experts, to ensure the independence and objectivity of the Commission, and to protect integrity and maintain public confidence in the process.
- Victor Dzau (Chair), President, National Academy of Medicine
- Judith Rodin (Vice-Chair), President, Rockefeller Foundation
- Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder of BRAC and Chairman of BRAC Bank Limited
- Arnaud Bernaert, Senior Director, Head of Global Health and Healthcare Industries, World Economic Forum
- Chris Elias, President of the Global Development Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Jeremy Farrar, President, Wellcome Trust
- Shigeru Omi, President, Japan Community Health Care Organization
- Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever
- Tan Chorh Chuan, President, National University of Singapore
- Miriam Were, Chancellor, Moi University
- Mirta Roses, Former Director-General, Pan American Health Organization
- Shen Xiaoming, Professor of Pediatrics, Xin Hua Hospital and Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Meetings
- Workshop on Global Governance for Health | Watch the Archived Webcast
- Workshop on Pandemic Financing | Watch the Archived Webcast
- Global Health Risk Framework Meeting 1 | Watch the Archived Webcast
- Workshop on Resilient and Sustainable Health Systems | Watch the Archived Webcast
- Workshop on Research and Development of Medical Products | Watch the Archived Webcast
- The Neglected Dimension of Global Security: Findings of the GHRF Commission | Watch the Archived Webcast
- Asia Launch of the Report Recommendations of the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future | Watch the Archived Webcast
Staff
Ceci Mundaca-Shah, Project Director
V. Ayano Ogawa, Associate Program Officer
Patrick Kelley, Director, Board on Global Health
