CHALLENGE

Indonesia is situated in a hotspot region for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases due to the climate, biodiversity, and close interaction between people and wildlife. Additional potential drivers of emerging pandemic diseases in Indonesia include endemic avian influenza, population pressures, changing habitats, economic growth, food security, and globalization. As a rising economic power with a vibrant democracy, leader of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and member of the G-20, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and active in South-South Cooperation, Indonesia has an important role in regional and global initiatives, including the prevention and control of infectious diseases and pandemic threats.

INITIATIVE

Launched January 2015, the Emerging Pandemic Threats 2 (EPT-2) program builds on and extends the successes of USAID’s EPT-1 and Avian Influenza programs in disease prevention, surveillance, training, and outbreak response. The focus of the EPT-2 program is to build on the operational platforms, institutional partnerships, and expanded knowledge base developed over the past decade under USAID’s predecessor programs.  EPT-2 is implemented in hotspot countries in Central and East Africa, and South and South East Asia. The EPT-2 program is managed by USAID with technical collaboration from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). In addition to these partnerships, USAID has projects that provide additional technical support: PREDICT-2; One Health Workforce (OHW), and Preparedness and Response (P&R).

In Indonesia, EPT-2 aims to help Indonesia pre-empt or combat, at their source, newly emerging diseases of animal origin that could threaten human health. EPT-2 supports International Health Regulations and improves Indonesia’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats, which are key objectives of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), which Indonesia is leading in 2016. Indonesia’s leadership of the GHSA represents a convergence in strategic priorities in terms of preventing, detecting and responding to public health and zoonotic disease threats of mutual concern.

RESULTS

EPT-2 will help achieve the following results:

1. Improved monitoring of viruses with pandemic potential as well as behaviors, practices, and conditions associated with viral evolution, spillover, amplification and spread.
2. Improved training of current and future workforce across sectors and disciplines through university networks founded under EPT-1.
3. Strengthened multi-sectoral coordination.