| Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC May 3, 2006 Avian Influenza Action Group to Coordinate U.S. International EffortThe Department of State has established a new Action Group to coordinate United States preparedness and response to avian influenza and the threat of a global human influenza pandemic. The Action Group reports to Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky, designated by the Secretary as the State Department’s interagency coordinator on avian and pandemic influenza. The Avian Influenza Action Group leads U.S. Government efforts to advance the international objectives defined by the President’s National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. With the launch of the Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, the Action Group is also responsible for 83 specific actions to implement the U.S. international engagement strategy based on preparedness and communication, surveillance and detection, and response and containment. Ambassador John E. Lange has been named the Department’s Special Representative on Avian and Pandemic Influenza. He also serves as the Senior Coordinator heading the Action Group. Ambassador Lange brings to his position a broad background involving foreign policy, crisis management, humanitarian response, multilateral cooperation, and public health. He has extensive experience on HIV/AIDS based on his work as Deputy Global AIDS Coordinator of the Department of State and as U.S. Ambassador to Botswana. He worked on refugee and humanitarian emergencies while at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and he received the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award for his leadership of the American Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, following the terrorist bombing on August 7, 1998. The Avian Influenza Action Group will work in close collaboration with the Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Homeland Security, Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other agencies, as well as the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. The Action Group will serve as the point of coordination for U.S. participation in the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, announced by the President in September 2005. The goal of this initiative is for countries and international organizations to work together to combat avian and pandemic influenza and to identify priority areas for further collaboration. For further information on the U.S. international engagement on avian influenza, see www.state.gov/g/oes/avianflu and www.pandemicflu.gov. 2006/452
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