The Biological Threat Reduction Program of the Department of Defense From Foreign Assistance to Sustainable Partnerships (2007) / Chapter Skim
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The categories of activities and expenditures through FY 2007 are as follows: • Biological Infrastructure Elimination, with three facility dismantlement projects completed in Kazakhstan and Georgia and on Vozrozhdeniye Island in the Aral Sea: $15.2 million (3.5 percent of the program) • Biosafety/Biosecurity, which involves facility upgrades, training, and related activities throughout the region and initial steps in establishing the Threat Agent Detection and Response (TADR)
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Within the former Soviet Union, BTRP activities have strengthened the containment of biological materials, technologies, equipment, and expertise that, if misused, could result in serious biological threats. Specific changes in the region that can be attributed at least in part to BTRP have included the following: • Unprecedented transparency at dozens of important facilities with dual-use capabilities that had not previously been open to foreign specialists • Dismantlement and/or conversion of production and research facilities established to support biological weapons activities, including transformation to civilian activities of more than a dozen important components of the weapons-oriented Biopreparat complex • Redirection to civilian pursuits of hundreds of senior biological scientists, engineers, and technicians who were formerly engaged in defense programs • Attraction and retention of hundreds of younger specialists working in basic sciences and in the fields of public health and agriculture • Adoption by local institutions of standard international approaches to project management and to fiscal accountability • Participation in scientific conferences and training programs abroad by specialists from the region who had not previously traveled abroad • Increased publication by local scientists in peer-reviewed international journals of research findings, which demonstrate their capabilities to participate effectively in international scientific activities • Enhanced quality of local research projects and technology transfer activities that have taken advantage of the experience and expertise of international collaborators • Improved biosecurity and biosafety at biological research institutions, particularly with regard to consolidation and physical protection of dangerous pathogen strains • Opening and sharing of local databases with international collaborators • Construction and equipping of modern research, public health, and agriculture facilities where activities of interest to international partners are carried out • Development of local regulations and related training programs concerning the safety and security of biological materials and good laboratory practices The foregoing and other results of engagement activities supported by BTRP and related programs have led to the establishment of continuing international linkages based on friendships and common professional interests.
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Finally, intergovernmental cooperation in the biological sciences and biotechnology, exemplified by BTRP, offers important opportunities for political and scientific leaders from the United States and partner countries to discuss common security and health interests and to develop complementary approaches for combating threats of global terrorism. In short, past U.S.
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Development of strong partnerships is essential to sustain program activities initiated through BTRP or related programs. To this end, a critical early step is for BTRP to fully engage partner governments, institutions, and specialists in the selection and design of proposed cooperative activities from the outset.
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●●● Recommendation 4: BTRP should give greater emphasis to a comprehensive, multifaceted approach to international engagement for achieving biosecurity, public health, and agriculture objectives. The approach should include development of countermeasures to bioterrorism, enhanced facility security, collaborative surveillance activities, expanded cooperative research, development of common biosafety procedures, adoption of good laboratory practices and good manufacturing practices, development of human resources, and related activities.
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However, the country's biological assets are too important not to engage Russian researchers on a broad scale in future BTRP activities. Although the economic situation in Russia is stabilizing, the future of a number of large biological institutions is in flux; and many former weapon scientists remain trapped in uncertain circumstances that could raise serious proliferation concerns.
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At the same time, BTRP can use such networks in joint efforts to help provide early warning of disease outbreaks, contribute to development of safe and affordable vaccines and drugs, and provide pathogen detection devices. In short, U.S.
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