The world is watching US SenatorJoe Biden today. The the new hopeful for vice president will speak tonight at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Through his previous legislative proposals, though, he has already said volumes about what global health issues he views as important.

Last summer, Senator Biden introduced the Global Pathogen Surveillance Act of 2007 (S. 1687), which would expand overseas infectious disease laboratories run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Experts say the risk of an avian flu pandemic is as great as ever. But according to Biden, the US government is only "one-third" prepared for an outbreak.

A report submitted by Biden urging passage of the Global Pathogen Surveillance Act calls developing nations the “weak links in a comprehensive global surveillance and monitoring network” and cites research suggesting that about one-third of countries may not even have the tools required to diagnose avian flu in humans. It's no surprise then that the proposed legislation would also provide assistance to developing nations that need better tools for recognizing and containing infectious disease outbreaks.

Forgive the pun, but in my opinion this legislation kills two birds with one stone. In addition to offering increased protection from natural pandemics, it would help prepare the global community for launching a coordinated response against a biowarfare attack; biological agents, manmade or natural, are likely to spread through human populations in similar ways. If passed, the act would cost each American family about $1—a small sum compared with the approximate per-family cost of $300 for the United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (also known as PEPFAR), recently signed by US President George W. Bush.

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