U.S. Leadership in the Covid-19 Era

U.S. leadership is essential in shaping and supporting diplomatic and multilateral efforts in response to health security emergencies.

Photo Credit: PAVEL GOLOVKIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Overview

The Commission will map out how U.S. leadership is to be restored after a period of significant regression, with what priorities and through what concrete steps, both during and after the pandemic. This will involve an assessment of key U.S. institutions and their role in global health security, particularly the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and White House capacities. The Commission will reexamine the unique capacities that the military can bring to global health security issues and how that role might evolve in the Covid-19 era. The Commission will also pursue reform to enhance the resilience and independence of U.S. public health institutions, particularly the CDC.

Sustaining immunizations and community health programs and ensuring public trust and confidence in vaccines will be critical to global security in the Covid-19 era. In rethinking U.S. leadership, the Commission will focus on promoting health security through immunizations and the growing recognition of the essential role played by the primary health care system in disease prevention and outbreak response.