Contact: Press Office, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), 202-712-4320; Public Information: 202-712-4810

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 /Standard Newswire/ -- The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Global Health is pleased to announce a partnership with International Medical Corps (IMC) to strengthen the human capacity of countries to identify and respond to outbreaks of newly emergent diseases in a timely and sustainable manner. IMC leads a distinguished team including Global Deterrence Alternatives (GDA), TriMed Inc., MedPrep Consulting, and World Learning. This is a three-year cooperative agreement with a ceiling of $6.65 million.

This project, named PREPARE, is part of the USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats Program - a specialized set of projects that build on the successes of the Agency's 30 years of work in disease surveillance, training, and outbreak response. PREPARE will focus on the provision of technical support for simulations and field tests of national, regional and local pandemic preparedness plans to ensure that countries have the capacity to implement response plans effectively during pandemic events. This agreement builds on USAID experience in the planning, design and implementation of tabletop and field drill simulations to enhance the preparedness of countries and regions against avian and pandemic influenza.

PREPARE will employ its unique eight-step approach, combined with best practices and lessons-learned from previous USAID exercises to deliver training, simulation exercises, and evidence-based decision support to create capacities based on continuous refinement. This will allow countries and regions to reach higher levels of public health preparedness against infectious diseases with pandemic potential.

PREPARE will be led by Dr. Liviu Vedrasco, MD, MPH, a humanitarian and development specialist with 15 years of health project management experience, including pandemic preparedness, in diverse international settings. Other key staff include Dr. Donna Barbisch, a senior exercise specialist and distinguished expert on complex public health emergencies and catastrophic disasters; Dr. Scott Lilienbridge, a senior professor of Epidemiology and Medicine at Texas A&M, and founder of the Center of Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness at the University of Texas; and Dr. Stuart Weiss, former director of the Center for Health Care Preparedness. The project will be managed out of USAID's Avian and Pandemic Influenza Unit.

For more information about USAID, please visit www.usaid.gov.