Distinguished participants from the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions, experts from WHO Collaborating Centres, partners and colleagues,
Good morning and a warm welcome to this fourteenth Bi-Regional Meeting of National Influenza Centres and Influenza Surveillance.
We are now in the second half of the second year of the COVID-19 response.
Amid the global spread of new variants of concern, and in the context of ongoing and unjust vaccine inequities, we continue to aggressively respond, using all tools at our disposal.
And we do so with solidarity and in support of our national and regional partners, including our network of WHO Collaborating Centres.
I thank you all.
For more than one-and-a-half years you have made tremendous contributions to the COVID-19 response, while continuing to protect against existing health threats, including that which we are gathered to discuss – influenza.
Pandemic influenza continues to be among the world’s greatest health security threats. In all countries of the world, seasonal influenza continues to cause morbidity and mortality. The co-circulation of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza could put additional strain on health systems already pushed to the brink.
Any increase in hospitalization from influenza risks an increase in mortality from other causes.
We can be thankful that the same public health and social measures that control COVID-19 are equally effective for influenza control. And we can be grateful that we already have access to life-saving tools to prevent and treat influenza, including effective antivirals and vaccines.
Globally, the monitoring of seasonal influenza viruses and influenza viruses of pandemic potential is based on data and viruses shared with WHO’s Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, or GISRS. So too are the recommendations for the composition of influenza vaccines and the development of global policies.
Over the last decade, countries in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions have made significant investments in strengthening pandemic influenza preparedness and response capacities, which have increased their readiness to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
Enhanced PCR capacity within national influenza laboratories has helped countries track SARS-CoV-2 and implement evidence-based measures that reflect epidemiological spread.
Improved influenza-related infrastructure and human resources have enabled countries to rapidly adapt and tailor their responses, repurposing resources where required, while also maintaining influenza surveillance and other capacities.
Although in the first quarter of 2020 we witnessed a 79% global decline in the testing of samples for influenza viruses, available data indicate that the overall number of tests in 2020 was no lower than in previous years.
And yet, globally, we witnessed a 62% decrease in 2020 of the number of virus shipments sent to WHO Collaborating Centres. We witnessed a 94% decrease in the number of influenza viruses with genetic sequence data uploaded to the GISAID database.
Several factors could account for these declines, including a potential reduction in the circulation of influenza virus, the repurposing of staff and supplies, overburdened laboratories, and transport restrictions.
To better understand past, present and emerging challenges, and to continue to strengthen the GISRS, it is essential that countries and partners identify and share lessons learned – precisely as you are gathered to do.
Having considered the potential impact such challenges could have, WHO has developed a policy brief on readiness for influenza amid the pandemic and has also issued interim guidance on how to maintain influenza surveillance while monitoring SARS-CoV-2 through the GISRS.
The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization has issued recommendations on the prioritization of seasonal influenza immunization, which will help countries optimize vaccine use at a time when supply is limited.
In coming deliberations, you have a chance to share experiences of COVID-19 vaccine deployment and to leverage those experiences to help shape preparedness for future pandemic influenza vaccine deployments.
I urge you to make the most of that opportunity and reiterate WHO’s unmitigated support in the ongoing COVID-19 response, and in enhancing influenza preparedness and response capacity, for a healthier, more health secure Asia Pacific for all.
Thank you.