Two Epidemics and Global Health Security Agenda

February 2014 witnessed two remarkable public health events’ start on Earth: The first case of Ebola outbreak in West Africa was confirmed. A total number of suspected and confirmed cases in the Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (EHF) outbreak had increased to 28,637 cases, including 15,249 laboratory-confirmed cases and 11,324 deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Spain, and the United States as of November 29, 2015 [1, 2]. Another unexpected epidemic, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak surprised the world hitting the Republic of Korea (ROK) late in May 2015. This produced 186 confirmed cases including one case exported to China and 37 deaths [3]. This hospital-based outbreak has brought a hug impact on the general public and economy of ROK, which has one of the most advanced medical and public health systems in the world. From the unprecedented outbreaks in West Africa and Korea showed that health could directly apply to national security and the necessity for immediate action to establish global capacity to prevent, detect and rapidly respond to biological threats like Ebola and MERS. The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) was launched on February 13, 2014 to secure the world from infectious disease threats and unite nations to make new, concrete commitments, and to elevate global health security as a national leaders-level priority [4]. The G7 endorsed the GHSA in June 2014; and Finland and Indonesia hosted commitment development meetings in May and August. Ministers and senior officials from 44 countries and leading international organizations gathered in the White House, Washington DC to make specific commitments to implement the GHSA and to work toward a commitment to assist West Africa with needed global health security capacity within 3 years. Countries developed 11 Action Packages to support the GHSA. The Action Packages are designed to outline measurable steps required to prevent outbreaks, detect threats in real time, and rapidly respond to infectious disease threats whether naturally occurring, the result of laboratory accidents, or an act of bioterrorism. The