To prepare for future respiratory pandemics, WHO’s South-East Asia Regional Office organized a Regional workshop on WHO’s Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative that promotes efficient mode-of-transmission pandemic planning for countries in the Region on 12-13 October, 2023.
Concluding the Regional workshop, countries identified their immediate next steps and the support needed from WHO and partners to maximize regional preparedness for broad respiratory pathogen pandemics.
Following the meeting, operationalizing the PRET initiative in India, the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the government of India with the support of the WHO country office for India conducted a National Consultative Workshop On "National Pandemic Preparedness Plan for Respiratory Viruses” on 8 and 9 December 2023.
The meeting was attended by senior level officers from national and state levels. They were from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Disaster Management Cell, National Centre for Disease Control, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), Department of Pharmaceuticals, Indian Council for Medical Research, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Indian Council for Agricultural Research. Department of Biotechnology, Academic Institutions, Ministry of Environment, US CDC, USAID, UNICEF, WHO.
From WHO, Dr Pushpa R Wijesinghe, (Program Area Manager, Infectious Hazard Management, SEARO) introduced the PRET (Preparedness and Resilience to Emerging Threats) initiative and the experience in WHO Southeast Asia region.
Dr Gina Samaan, (Unit Head of Pandemic preparedness Global Platform WHO HQ, Geneva) briefed about the threat of future respiratory pathogen pandemics, planning for preparedness and the utility of the PRET approach.
Dr Masaya Kato ( Program Area Manager, Health Information Management , SEARO) elaborated on the collaborative surveillance and its linkage with the Strategic Framework for Action for Strengthening Surveillance, Risk Assessment and Field Epidemiology for Health Security Threats in the WHO South-East Asia Region. The presentation focussed on how collaborative surveillance could form the foundation for broad respiratory pathogen pandemic alerts and its use during such a pandemic.
Throughout the two-day event, participants shared valuable insights, combining technical expertise to improve the National Preparedness and Response Plan for Respiratory Viruses. A significant outcome of the workshop was the consolidation of recommendations from the expert panel. The event concluded with a summary of these recommendations, and the content framework finalization by participants.