"The biodefense National Security Presidential Memorandum names the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, as the Federal lead for biodefense and establishes a Cabinet-level Biodefense Steering Committee," the White House said in a press release on Monday.
US President Donald Trump's new National Biodefense Strategy creates a cabinet-level steering committee that will act to protect Americans against biological weapons and other potential bio-threats, the release said.
“It is a vital interest of the United States to manage the risk of biological incidents, which gives you a sense of the priority this administration has put on this topic of area,” the official said. “This covers the range of accidental and deliberate threats that could result from a biological incident that could emanate from individuals, non-state actors or states.”
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The strategy, US President said, directs the US national security advisor to review biological threats and prioritize biodefense actions annually in order to enable the federal government to better prevent, prepare for, and respond to such incidents.
"Finally, it directs my National Security Advisor to review biological threats and prioritize biodefense actions annually, which will enable the government to better anticipate, prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from biological incidents," Trump said.\
The US secretary of health and human services will be in charge of coordinating the implementation of the National Biodefense Strategy, Trump said.
