Fidler Gives Testimony to the House of Lords on Global Infectious Disease Threats
On May 12, 2008, David P. Fidler, James Louis Calamaras Professor of Law, provided the House of Lords Ad Hoc Committee on Intergovernmental Organisations oral testimony on policy, legal, and governance challenges concerning global infectious disease threats.
The Ad Hoc Committee is investigating ways in which the United Kingdom can contribute more effectively to international efforts to address global infectious disease problems, such as avian influenza, extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, disease threats after natural disasters, and the threat of biological terrorism. The Ad Hoc Committee invited Fidler to provide oral testimony on the basis of his written testimony submitted in February 2008.
Fidler's testimony to the House of Lords committee represents another example of his globally recognized expertise on international law and global health. In 2007, Fidler was appointed by the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) to serve as an expert in international law on the Roster of Experts under the new International Health Regulations, which entered into force for WHO member states in June 2007. In May 2008, Fidler was made a member of the U.S. Institute of Medicine's Committee on Achieving Sustainable Global Capacity for Surveillance and Response to Emerging Diseases of Zoonotic Origin. Many of the most threatening global infectious diseases are zoonotic diseases, meaning the pathogen originated in animals and then "jumped species" into humans. Zoonotic diseases include HIV/AIDS, SARS, and avian influenza.