On March 26, U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo announced a significant increase in the United States’ contribution to the global response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Under this initiative, USAID will contribute approximately $1.1 million in emergency health assistance to support Georgia’s efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and support at-risk individuals and communities. USAID will deliver this assistance to the Georgian people in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Critical public health measures made possible by the new assistance include: infection prevention and control, case-finding and event-based surveillance, technical assistance for response and preparedness, strengthened risk communication, and more.
This emergency health assistance will strengthen Georgia’s current response, an effort that has been effective in part due to past U.S. Government investments in public health. Over the past 20 years, the U.S. Government, through USAID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), and other agencies, has provided nearly $139 million in assistance to help build the capacity of Georgia’s domestic healthcare systems.
Previous assistance includes the establishment of and support for the Richard G. Lugar Center for Public Health Research, a state-of-the-art public health reference laboratory operated by Georgia’s National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC). The facility has enabled public health officials to rapidly and effectively identify cases of COVID-19, preventing further spread of the virus and helping keep the Georgian people healthy and safe.
The U.S. Government is proud to partner with the Government of Georgia, local health professionals and civil society organizations, and international organizations such as WHO and IFRC to help combat COVID-19 and provide critical support to at-risk individuals.