Conference Presentation
The 2014 Atlanta Summit - - Welcome Remarks
- Governor Nathan Deal was absent due to a state of emergency declaration regarding a winter storm but sent a letter emphasizing CDC's role as the "24-7 first line of defense" against health threats.
- Governor Deal highlighted the strategic importance of CDC's Atlanta location, noting it elevates vital public health issues to a global level and pledged state support to maintain CDC's status as the world leader in public health.
- An informal audience poll indicated a 60–65% majority belief that the world is currently safer from infectious diseases than a generation ago, compared to 35–40% who believe the world is less safe.
- Three primary threats to global health security were identified: emerging infections, resistant infections, and intentional infections.
- Emerging infections are occurring at an average rate of one new discovery per year, with H7N9 influenza currently presenting over 100 cases this year and a high mortality rate via poultry-to-human transmission.
- The 2014 H7N9 outbreak involved travel volumes of 3.6 billion trips in China, creating high risks for cross-border viral spread despite a lack of confirmed person-to-person transmission at the time.
- Resistant infections pose a risk of a "post-antibiotic era" where common treatments fail, with Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) being a specific nightmare bacteria resistant to all available antibiotics.
- Drug resistance is escalating in major pathogens; specifically, 10% of Klebsiella strains in the U.S. are now resistant, alongside resistance in Pseudomonas, E. coli, and Serratia.
- Intentional infections are becoming increasingly viable due to the lower cost and difficulty of creating dangerous organisms through synthetic biology, raising concerns similar to the Amerithrax anthrax episode.
- Globalization creates a context where a virus or infection can reach anywhere in the world within 24 hours due to high-volume travel, trade in food and medication, and international migration.
- In response to these threats, the World Health Organization's International Health Regulations (IHRs) now mandate that every country find, report, and stop health threats promptly.
- Technological advancements have revolutionized pathogen tracking; genome sequencing that previously took months now takes three hours, enabling rapid vaccine and diagnostic development.
- Successful collaboration during the H7N9 outbreak allowed China to upload genome data within hours, enabling the CDC to download it immediately and begin producing vaccines and diagnostics globally.
- The summit outlines three core operational goals for CDC: finding health threats faster, responding more effectively, and preventing outbreaks sooner.
- Since 1995, bioscience initiatives like the "March of Progress" have driven an incremental $200 billion investment by the U.S. in the biosciences, credited with over 50% of economic growth in the last two centuries.
- The Human Genome Project, a 13-year, $3.8 billion investment, is projected to revolutionize the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of over 4,000 genetic diseases.
- Despite global progress where life expectancy has risen to 67 years (near 80 in the U.S.), the U.S. has reduced biomedical research funding on an absolute and inflation-adjusted basis, unlike China, India, Japan, and Brazil which are increasing investments.
- CDC's "10 Winnable Battles" report highlights significant reductions in HIV mother-to-child transmission, noting a >90% probability that a woman will not pass HIV to her child.
- Current HIV statistics show 1 million Americans living with the virus (50,000 new cases annually) and over 635,000 deaths, yet the disease is now manageable; globally, 60% of the 35 million people with HIV live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- The summit aims to demonstrate that bioscience returns on investment are critical, featuring bipartisan participation to validate careers for the 10,000 CDC employees and elevate public understanding of the agency's mission.
- Historical context provided notes that before modern sanitation and antibiotics, life expectancy in 1800 was 26 years, rising to 49 by 1950 and near 80 today, driven by vaccines, the discovery of DNA, and medical innovations.
- Speakers urged a renewed national commitment to bioscience, framing it as the primary driver of quality of life and economic stability, rather than relying solely on foreign aid or military assistance.