CDC director asks nations to ban risky biological research

CDC Director Erica Schwartz called on nations to ban government funding for biological research the U.S. considers dangerous, while rejecting a U.N. declaration on pandemic preparedness. This POLITICO report examines the administration’s position and the tensions shaping international health cooperation.

What you’ll learn

• What Schwartz urged countries to do about government funding for high-risk biological research
• Why the U.S. rejected the U.N. declaration on pandemic prevention and preparedness
• How disagreements over reproductive health language and a pending pandemic treaty factored into the decision
• What the U.S. is contributing to the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Why this matters

The U.S. is calling for international cooperation to prevent outbreaks while opposing parts of a shared U.N. pandemic framework. These differences could affect how countries coordinate on pathogen research, data sharing and access to medical countermeasures during future health emergencies.

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