WHO Pandemic Hub sets ambitious goal to detect new outbreaks within 24 hours

BERLIN: The World Health Organisation (WHO) launched a new five-year strategy for its Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, charting a path towards a world where every country can detect and understand emerging health threats within 24 hours of their appearance by 2030.

Strengthening rapid detection is a cornerstone of global health security, helping countries contain outbreaks before they escalate into larger epidemics or spread internationally.

The Hub’s strategy aims to equip every country with the capabilities needed to rapidly identify and understand emerging health threats, thus supporting them in developing the systems, capacities and partnerships necessary to prevent outbreaks from escalating into epidemics or pandemics.

Speaking at the opening of the World Health Summit in Berlin, in the presence of Germany’s Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Health, Georg Kippels, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reflected on the Hub’s achievements in the five years since its creation.

"Five years after its establishment, the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence has become an integral part of the global health security system," he said.

"Its new strategy charts a clear path towards 2030, uniting governments and partners around a shared goal: a world in which every country can rapidly respond to health threats before they turn into major crises."

The WHO Hub was created in 2021 with foundational support from the German Government in response to the critical gaps exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then, it has worked with 160 WHO Member States, 190 partner organizations, and thousands of scientists and policymakers to detect new epidemic threats, sequence and identify pathogens, and support rapid action to protect communities around the world.

Under the next five-year strategy, the Hub will build on the achievements and deliver its work through five priority initiatives:

Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) uses artificial intelligence to scan thousands of publicly available sources in real time each day to identify signals of potential health threats.

It brings together a global community of over 4000 experts and is being used by over 125 Member States and 30 regional and international organisations.

The International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) strengthens capacities in genomic sequencing and bioinformatics to identify and understand emerging pathogens. This helps accelerate the development of tests, treatments and vaccines.

The Collaboratory connects more than 2000 experts in modelling and data science who can be rapidly mobilized when new threats emerge.

The Collaborative Surveillance Initiative, which is being implemented in more than 83 countries, supports national institutions, systems and workforces to detect health threats through a One Health approach.

The Digital Enablers for Public Health Intelligence Initiative, a new programme, will develop secure digital systems that enable countries and partners to share, analyse and use data while supporting the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence.

The Hub is a critical pillar of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme and of our collective ability to respond to emergencies. It acts as a convener of partners, a catalyst for innovation, and a mobilizer of expertise and resources.

Achieving the ambition of the strategy will require sustained investment, trusted partnerships, and strong cooperation across sectors, disciplines, and borders.