- Participants from our Member States in the WHO South-East Asia Region
- Participants from Member States in the WHO Western Pacific Region
- Experts from WHO Collaborating Centres
- Partners, colleagues and friends
Good morning, and welcome to the eighteenth Bi-Regional Meeting on Influenza Surveillance and National Influenza Centres.
My sincere thanks to our colleagues at the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office for co-hosting this meeting with SEARO.
This meeting symbolizes our collective commitment in the Asia-Pacific to enhancing regional and global health security through strengthened influenza pandemic preparedness and response bringing together expertise and leadership from both the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions and beyond.
I would like to express my deep appreciation for your continued dedication to this vital work.
Seasonal, zoonotic, and pandemic influenza threats remain among the most pressing public health challenges to health security in the Asia-Pacific region. Persistent systemic vulnerabilities call for renewed attention and stronger recognition of the need for resilient health systems, robust early warning capacities, and sustained regional solidarity to effectively respond to these threats.
Such responses require sustained investments in essential public health functions, strengthened integrated surveillance and laboratory networks, and equitable, people-centred access to services and medical countermeasures.
However, these demands come at a time of ongoing global financial constraints. The world continues to face a chronic underinvestment in pandemic preparedness estimated at approximately USD 10.5 billion annually which disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries, including those in our two regions.
Bridging this gap is not just a question of sustainability—it is a matter of equity, resilience, and global solidarity. Our ability to implement the International Health Regulations and advance Universal Health Coverage depends on long-term, predictable investments in public health systems.
Despite these challenges, there is reason for optimism. On 20 May 2025, WHO Member States adopted the historic Pandemic Accord—a landmark agreement reinforcing global collaboration in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
The Accord prioritizes political commitment and reinforces global architecture for health emergency preparedness, response and resilience . It promotes equitable access to medical countermeasures, enhances international coordination, and establishes the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System (PABS). These components are key to supporting the efforts you have sustained for more than seven decades through the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS).
Colleagues,
Zoonotic influenza continues to pose a real and evolving threat with pandemic potential. The recent H5N1 outbreak in the United States—marked by human infection and widespread detection in dairy cattle—highlights the urgency of integrated One Health approaches and cross-sectoral collaboration.
In our two regions, recent cases of H5N1 in Cambodia bordering Thailand in the South-East Asia region, India and Bangladesh underscore the need for vigilant surveillance, timely laboratory confirmation, and coordinated response capacities in densely populated settings.
To be better prepared for influenza pandemic threats in the future, we must prioritize sustained investment in primary health care, strengthen core public health functions, and foster effective international collaboration grounded in equity and solidarity. Our collective actions today will shape our ability to safeguard health and well-being for generations to come.
In this regard, the Pandemic Fund plays a crucial role in supporting investments to strengthen pandemic preparedness and response, with a particular emphasis on low- and middle-income countries. These resources, in synergy with the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) partnership contributions and other funding mechanisms, can be effectively leveraged to advance critical initiatives such as the Global Influenza Strategy, mosaic surveillance approaches, the SEARO–WPRO multi-source collaborative surveillance, and the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative, alongside broader pandemic preparedness efforts.
Finally, I wish to acknowledge the integrated approaches for influenza and other respiratory pathogens that have evolved since COVID-19. These approaches offer efficiencies, improve cost-effectiveness, and provide a foundation for stronger regional pandemic response capacities.
I encourage all Member States, WHO offices, and Collaborating Centres to continue working together to develop and implement evidence-based, practical and consensual recommendations from this meeting.
On that note, I wish you all a productive and engaging meeting in the next three days.
I look forward to hearing about the outcomes and innovations that will emerge from your discussions.
Thank you.
Watch the full speech: