Global Health NOW: The Not-Flashy, Essential Part of Outbreak Preparedness and Response
Amanda McClelland, senior vice president for Prevent Epidemics at Resolve to Save Lives

“When an outbreak hits, how do we immediately get a Ministry of Health representative, an animal health specialist, a communications expert, and a laboratory sample transporter on the same page? … [P]rogram management. … Program management and leadership have long been recognized as key ingredients for success in public health. If we are to make progress in global health security, we need to come together as a sector to prioritize sustainable and coordinated approaches to program management capacity building. While it may not be the flashiest thing to work on, how else can we bring the laboratory technician, the epidemiologist, and the community organizer together to prevent or find and stop the next epidemic? In public health, there seems to be a strong understanding that capacity for management is a must-have, not a nice-to-have. It’s time for that conviction to spread to the health security field so that all pieces of the preparedness to response ‘assembly line’ run smoothly” (6/19).