Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security Hosts Southeast Asia Strategic Multilateral Biosecurity Dialogue to Explore Lessons from National Pandemic Responses

February 16, 2022 – The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security convened government officials and stakeholders for a Southeast Asia Strategic Multilateral Biosecurity Dialogue meeting on December 14 and 16, 2021. The virtual meeting focused on ongoing national COVID-19 responses, including diagnostic testing and disease surveillance systems, vaccine development, and barriers to vaccination. The meeting explored lessons learned from national pandemic responses, how those lessons could apply to future health emergencies, and the pandemic's lasting impact on biosecurity in Southeast Asia.

Current and former senior government officials as well as technical experts from across healthcare, public health, national security, nonproliferation and disarmament, the media, and other key fields attended. Representatives from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States participated. In accordance with the dialogue format, participants offered insights based on their personal expertise and did not represent the views of their respective governments in an official capacity.

Read the meeting report.

About the Southeast Asia Strategic Multilateral Biosecurity Dialogue

This dialogue considers Southeast Asia’s increasingly complex biosecurity risk landscape, as countries explore how they can work together to strengthen preparedness and resilience for a broad scope of biological threats, including natural, accidental, and deliberate. Meetings are organized by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (US Department of Defense).