USAID Awards Cooperative Agreement to AED to Enhance Communications About Emerging Pandemic Threats

USAID Awards Cooperative Agreement to AED to Enhance Communications About
Emerging Pandemic Threats

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) has awarded the Academy for Educational
Development (AED) a five-year, multi-million dollar cooperative agreement
called PREVENT to develop and implement effective behavior change and
communications interventions that reduce the risk of emerging zoonotic
diseases.

PREVENT, which is slated to work in four geographic areas (the Gangetic Plain,
Amazon River Basin, Congo River Basin, and Southeast Asia), 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.

"In recent times, 75 percent of all new human illnesses -- such as HIV, SARS,
avian influenza, and H1N1 -- have emerged as a result of the convergence of
people, animals and our environment. These diseases have had a devastating
public health and economic impact on large populations," said Dr. Dennis
Carroll, director of the Avian and Pandemic Influenza Unit at USAID. "The
speed with which they can spread across the increasingly interconnected globe
puts a premium on identification and launch of rapid containment and response
as early as possible when new diseases emerge. Being able to identify these
viruses before they move to full-scale human to human transmission is the
underlying objective of this award."

AED's cross-cutting activities will identify high-risk practices and groups
and formulate behavior change strategies and interventions to meet the
challenges posed by these emerging diseases. This award builds on the work
AED has done over the past four years in behavior change and communication
related to H5N1 (avian flu) and pandemic H1N1 influenza.

"AED is very pleased to be able to continue its work in emerging infectious
diseases under PREVENT. With the threats from avian flu and now pandemic H1N1
influenza, more people now recognize the critical importance that
communication can play in helping control disease outbreaks," said Margaret
Parlato, senior vice-president and director of AED's Global Health,
Population, and Nutrition Group.

AED, a private non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., is joined by
several leading partners in emerging infectious diseases and behavior change
and communication, including Global Viral Forecasting Incorporated (GVFInc)
and G6 Consulting.

GVFInc is a leader in conducting infectious disease research and has piloted
the first global early warning system to prevent novel pandemics. By coupling
innovative surveillance in field sites throughout the world with a consortium
of top laboratories, GVFInc is able to characterize the diversity of viruses
and other agents as they move from animals into human populations.

G6 Consulting is a member of Brodeur Partners' companies founded in 2004
expressly for the purpose of providing senior level consulting, crisis
communications, and primary and secondary research that forms and drives
communications for global movements.

The PREVENT project will be managed out of USAID's Avian and Pandemic
Influenza Unit.

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

The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development,
have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50
years.

Public Information: 202-712-4810

SOURCE U.S. Agency for International Development

U.S. Agency for International Development Press Office, +1-202-712-4320