The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a five-year strategy for its Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, with the aim of helping every country detect and understand an emerging health threat within 24 hours of its appearance by 2030, Down To Earth reports. The strategy was announced at the opening of the World Health Summit in Berlin on 12 October.
The Berlin-based hub was set up in 2021 with German government support after Covid-19 exposed gaps in how countries spot and respond to new threats. WHO says it has worked with 160 member states, 190 partner organisations and thousands of scientists and policymakers, detecting epidemic threats, sequencing pathogens and supporting rapid action. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it "an integral part of the global health security system".
The strategy has five priorities. Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources uses artificial intelligence to scan thousands of public sources every day for signs of possible threats and is used by more than 125 member states. The International Pathogen Surveillance Network helps countries sequence and analyse pathogens to speed up tests, treatments and vaccines, and a Collaboratory links more than 2,000 modelling and data experts who can be called on when a threat emerges.
A Collaborative Surveillance Initiative, under way in more than 83 countries, helps national institutions detect threats through a One Health approach, which links human, animal and environmental health. A new initiative will build secure digital systems for sharing and analysing health data and support the responsible use of AI.
WHO said reaching the goals would need sustained investment, trusted partnerships and cooperation across sectors and borders.
Photo: Yann Forget / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Down To Earth
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