On Monday, July 25, 2022, the United States and Pakistan hosted the U.S.-Pakistan Health Dialogue at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC to further deepen our robust bilateral health sector cooperation. The U.S. side was co-led by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Global Health Atul Gawande and U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs Loyce Pace, and included representation from Department of State, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Federal Minister of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination Abdul Qadir Patel led the Pakistan delegation, which included officials from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, Federal Directorate of Immunization, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The U.S.-Pakistan Health Dialogue provides a framework to sustain and strengthen health sector collaboration. The discussions centered on establishing a Pakistani CDC, global health security, childhood immunizations, COVID-19, maternal and child health, and non-communicable diseases. Both sides identified areas of mutual engagement and established an action plan to reach shared goals.
The Health Dialogue is an example of the strong ties between the United States and Pakistan and highlights the depth and breadth of our bilateral relationship, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. During the dialogue, the United States also announced it was donating 16 million doses of pediatric vaccines for COVID-19 to Pakistan in partnership with COVAX, on top of the 61.5 million adult vaccines doses already donated. An additional $20 million in USAID funding is also planned to support vaccination efforts. The Dialogue also highlighted the donation of four mobile testing labs by the United States through USAID to Pakistan's National Institute of Health worth a total of $4.6 million. These labs will strengthen Pakistan's ability to diagnose COVID-19 and other communicable diseases, especially in remote and underserved areas. In addition, the U.S. CDC announced the successful transfer of the Pakistan Field Epidemiology Training Program to the government of Pakistan, and that it will build upon this program and other ongoing investments to support and coordinate strong disease surveillance and response systems.
