WHO Announces New Global Influenza Strategy, Details Pandemic Preparedness and Response

On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the 2019-2030 Global Influenza Strategy which seeks to prevent seasonal influenza, control the spread of influenza from animals to humans, and prepare for the next influenza pandemic. The strategy outlines a path to protect populations and prepare for pandemic through the strengthening of core public health programs; the two overarching goals include:

1. Build stronger capacity for disease surveillance and response, prevention and control, and preparedness. To this end, the WHO calls on every country to have a tailored influenza program that contributes to national and global preparedness and health security.
2. Develop better tools to prevent, detect, control, and treat influenza, such as more effective vaccines, antivirals, and treatments, and make these tools available to all countries.

The WHO committed to expanding partnerships to increase research, innovation, and availability of new and improved global influenza tools while working closely with countries to improve capacities to prevent and control influenza. This work builds upon the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS), which monitors seasonal influenza trends and potentially pandemic viruses, and the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework, which provides access to vaccines and treatments and strengthens preparedness capacities of countries.

The full WHO Global Influenza Strategy is available here.