- Participants from our Member States in the WHO South-East Asia Region
- Participants from the Western Pacific Region
- Experts from WHO Collaborating Centres
- Partners, colleagues and friends
Good morning, and welcome to the Seventeenth Bi-Regional Meeting on Influenza Surveillance and National Influenza Centres.
My thanks to our colleagues from the Western Pacific Regional Office for hosting this gathering today in Manila.
This meeting marks our shared commitment and dedication to enhancing influenza surveillance, preparedness and response, across both South-East Asia and the Western Pacific.
I would like to thank all of you for your commitment to this cause.
After 16 years working together on pandemic influenza preparedness, this meeting today is being held at an important moment. As you know, the World Health Assembly adopted historic amendments to the International Health Regulations. This included a formal definition of pandemic emergencies, and enhanced global cooperation. It contained a commitment to equitable access to essential medical products and financing. And, it created a States Parties Committee to guide the effective implementation of the IHR amendments.
Alongside this, the proposed establishment of National IHR Authorities - to streamline coordination across and within countries – signify our joint efforts to reinforce pandemic preparedness across our two regions. Together, we are working to extend pandemic readiness beyond influenza, ensuring comprehensive preparedness for broader health threats.
Both our regions together have sustained contributions towards influenza preparedness spanning nearly nearly two decades. This is a solid foundation from which we build on our South-East Asia Regional Strategic Roadmap for Health Security and Health System Resilience for Emergencies (2023–2027). This meeting aligns today with vision of this roadmap —protecting the people and economies of South-East Asia from public health emergencies.
This bi-regional meeting is also an ideal platform for implementing our WHO South-East Asia Regional Roadmap for Diagnostic Preparedness, Integrated Laboratory Networking, and Genomic Surveillance.
By focusing on laboratory diagnostics for influenza and other respiratory pathogens, countries contribute to strengthening overall health security through improved diagnostic preparedness.
The foundation of these regional initiatives, coupled with the Asia Pacific Health Security Action Framework (APHSAF), is instrumental in advancing influenza-related goals.
As the Global Influenza Strategy (2019–2030) reaches its midpoint, my South-East Asia Regional Office remains committed to supporting Member States in building robust country capacities - as outlined in the global strategy.
Given recent zoonotic influenza spillovers, the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework is now more crucial than ever. Notably, all but one country in our region receives partnership contribution funds under this framework, reinforcing our collective health security.
SEARO is also dedicated to supporting the development of National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS) across the region. As part of this, SEARO advocates for updating national influenza pandemic preparedness plans, and broadening preparedness for other respiratory pathogens with pandemic potential. This would leverage WHO’s Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats initiative. In line with this commitment, SEARO has launched a regional roadmap for PRET implementation, and our SEAR countries recently conducted a regional simulation exercise to assess pandemic response capacity for respiratory pathogens.
Finally, I would like to mention that the focus of this bi-regional meeting aligns with the agenda on Advancing Health Emergency Preparedness and Response, which was endorsed at the 76th Session of our South-East Asia Regional Committee Meeting.
I encourage our Member States, WHO, and WHO Collaborating Centres to work together to develop and implement actionable recommendations.
On that note, I wishing you all a productive meeting, and an enjoyable stay in Manila.
I look forward to being briefed on the outcomes of this meeting.
Thank you.