NEW YORK, NY — Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Department of State's Bureau for Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD) convened the high-level dialogue, “One Year On: Progress, Partnerships, and the Path Forward.” Hosted on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81), today’s event marks the second year the U.S. Chamber and the State Department have formally convened senior leaders around the America First Global Health Strategy, building on the landmark forum held at UNGA80 in September 2025, where the strategy was publicly presented for the first time.
“Today reflects the Chamber's longstanding commitment to identifying and advocating for market-based solutions that improve health outcomes around the world, and underscores how public-private collaboration remains essential to building more durable and resilient health systems, at home and around the world,” said Varnee Murugan, Vice President, Global Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“One year ago, we launched the America First Global Health Strategy with a clear premise: American leadership, paired with the ingenuity of the private sector and true partnership with recipient nations, could usher in a new era of global health assistance focused on improving health outcomes while simultaneously increasing country ownership and self-reliance,” said Brad Smith, Senior Advisor for Global Health Security and Diplomacy, U.S. Department of State. “Today's dialogue shows the tremendous progress that has been made in the last twelve months. Since last fall, the United States has entered 35 bilateral agreements with countries who have committed in aggregate to increase their domestic health spending by more than $10 billion, and multiple U.S. health innovations that will save lives are being scaled up across the globe. This progress wouldn’t be possible without partners like those the Chamber convened today. We are confident the coming year will continue to build on this tremendous momentum.”
"Strong, sustainable health systems start with access to reliable diagnostics,” said Dan Malarek, President and CEO of Roche Diagnostics North America. “By pairing American innovation with existing infrastructure and local investment, we can help countries build lasting capacity while advancing U.S. leadership in global health.”
“The America First Global Health Strategy reflects a principle we share— lasting progress happens when countries lead and public and private partners work together toward shared goals,” said Nick Lagunowich, Pfizer’s President Emerging Markets, Through our own Accord for a Healthier World, we have seen strong momentum to expand access to innovative medicines and vaccines on a not-for-profit basis while helping to establish stronger, more sustainable health systems that can positively impact patients for generations to come."
Today’s dialogue brought together Ministers of Health, senior U.S. government officials including CDC Director Erica Schwartz, and private sector executives to assess implementation milestones, evaluate public-private partnership models, examine country ownership and co-investment, and identify the most critical policy and financing actions needed to sustain the strategy's impact in year two and beyond.
Speakers and participants included senior U.S. government officials, private sector executives, and ministerial delegations representing 15 countries across four continents— including the European Union, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Guinea, Angola, Mozambique, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Indonesia, Tajikistan, Laos, and Japan— as well the leaders of the Pan American Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
