MOSCOW, September 6. /TASS/. The US Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy will coordinate Washington’s actions on creation of a global infectious disease monitoring system and achievement of the US’ supremacy in this area, says Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops.

"On August 1, the State Department's Bureau of Global Health and Diplomacy was formed. Its official purpose is stated as 'international cooperation in the effective prevention, detection and control of infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS.' In practice, the office will be responsible for setting policy and coordinating Washington's efforts to establish a global infectious disease monitoring system and achieve United States leadership in this area," Kirillov said during the Russian Defense Ministry’s briefing on US military biological activity.

Kirillov specified that US Ambassador-at-large John Nkengasong, who previously served as director of the Africa Regional Office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - a structure involved in the implementation of US military biological programs - was appointed as the head of the newly-created structure.

Kirillov also pointed out that the US Department of State "regularly emphasizes its non-involvement in biological activities on the grounds that it is not a core foreign policy issue."