The WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions alternately host the bi-regional meeting of National Influenza Centres (NICs) and influenza surveillance annually. The Annual South-East Asia Regional Meeting on Operational Planning for the Implementation of the Global Influenza Strategy and Preparedness for Other Respiratory Viruses was held on 19 November 2024, one day prior to the 17th Bi-regional Meeting of NICs and Influenza Surveillance in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions, which took place from 20 to 22 November 2024 in Manila, Philippines.
The meeting aimed to review the status and challenges in implementing preparedness activities for influenza and other respiratory viruses, including laboratory-assisted collaborative surveillance. It also sought to identify priorities for planning joint activities with Member States, as well as WHO regional and country offices, for 2025.
The meeting was attended by directors of National Influenza Centres, epidemiologists involved in national influenza and other respiratory virus surveillance, senior officials overseeing national influenza and respiratory virus testing from Member States, and influenza focal points from WHO Country Offices and the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office.
The meeting focused on regional programmatic and laboratory priorities for controlling influenza and other key respiratory pathogens. These priorities were discussed in detail in two separate groups, with participants divided into programmatic and laboratory-focused discussions.
During the annual meeting, experts discussed regional programmatic and laboratory priorities for controlling influenza and other respiratory pathogens in the South-East Asia Region. Key topics included progress in integrated surveillance, laboratory advancements, and outcomes from the 2024 surveillance reviews. Participants outlined steps to enhance sentinel surveillance for Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI), strengthen National Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plans (NIPPPs), and improve genomic sequencing. Member States committed to reinforcing the SEARO-expanded GISRS community, aligning national and regional efforts with global strategies, and setting joint priorities for 2025 and beyond to enhance preparedness and resilience.
In the meeting, the following key priorities were identified for strengthening influenza and other respiratory pathogens in the Southeast Asia Region in 2025.
Programmatic including surveillance priorities:
- Strengthen integrated influenza surveillance and SARS-CoV-2 monitoring (optional-RSV) leveraging ILI/SARI sentinel systems.
- Conduct capacity building and data management training including Pandemic Influenza Severity Assessment (PISA) approach.
- Enhance overall pandemic preparedness and resilience in the South-East Asia Region.
Laboratory diagnostic priorities
- Strengthen collaboration and timely sharing of clinical samples and isolates to WHO Collaborating Centres (CCs).
- Establish antiviral susceptibility testing, along with harmonizing genomic sequencing protocols.
- Validate commercial assays for influenza and other respiratory pathogen testing and conduct operational research to implement wastewater surveillance for influenza surveillance.
To access the full meeting report, please click here.