Thank you for all the interest in and feedback about the inaugural edition of the newsletter of the new WHO Pandemic Hub. The building process is continuing, and we are sharing a few highlights from May here.
A pandemic simulation exercise for the G7 (currently chaired by Germany), and the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA), which met in person in Geneva for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak began, were two of the highest profile events for the Hub in the last month.
The G7 Simulation Exercise
A critical component of our work is to support global collaboration on surveillance and epidemic intelligence to avert and manage public health threats, and to enable leaders to share their decision-making experiences. As part of this, the Hub, on behalf of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, co-facilitated an outbreak simulation exercise for Health Ministers of the G7 .
The exercise took place during the G7 Health Ministers Conference in Berlin on 19 and 20 May 2022, just ahead of the World Health Assembly. It was planned and executed in close cooperation with the German Ministry of Health and supported by teams from the WHO Office for Europe and Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
In the context of an increasing number of monkeypox cases reported in more and more non-endemic countries, the Ministers addressed three themes: collaborative surveillance, coordinated response, and preparedness. These discussions were embedded in a near-future scenario of a severe outbreak of an unknown disease that spreads rapidly to many parts of the world.
The Ministers were guided through the exercise by Johanna Hanefeld (RKI, below, top) and Ilona Kickbusch (Graduate Institute, Geneva, and World Health Summit, Berlin, below, bottom).
The G7 Health Ministers Conference concluded with the development of a Communiqué in which the G7 Partners reiterated their commitment to fostering better health for all people globally, and supporting multilateral cooperation including the leadership, convening, and coordination role of WHO in global health.
We thank our colleagues in the Preparedness Division of the Health Emergencies Programme of WHO, WHO EURO, the Federal Ministry of Health of Germany, Robert Koch Institute, and GIZ for excellent and inspiring collaboration on the simulation exercise.
Decision making during a pandemic & multiple simultaneous threats is a tough job for Health Ministers #WHOPandemicHub & other @WHO teams supported an intense simulation exercise at the 2022 #G7 meeting, with @BMG_Bund & @rki_de Thanks @IlonaKickbusch & @johanefeld for supportThank you 🇩🇪 Health Minister @Karl_Lauterbach for hosting an emergency preparedness simulation exercise for @G7 Health Ministers. @WHO is proud to have supported the design & implementation of the exercise that helps to identify how surveillance & response can be strengthened. https://t.co/xrN4DzYntLTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus @DrTedrosThank you 🇩🇪 Health Minister @Karl_Lauterbach for hosting an emergency preparedness simulation exercise for @G7 Health Ministers. @WHO is proud to have supported the design & implementation of the exercise that helps to identify how surveillance & response can be strengthened..@Karl_Lauterbach adds: "To this end, today we will simulate a pandemic and see if we have learned from past mistakes. We will construct the scenario of a smallpox pandemic triggered by a leopard bite."BMG @BMG_Bund
World Health Assembly 75
At WHA 75, Member States discussed several topics related to public health emergencies, and to the work of the Hub. Resolutions were passed on amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005), efforts to strengthen clinical trials, health emergency preparedness and response, health emergencies in humanitarian settings, and others (see this page for access to all WHA documents and information).
Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, who heads the WHO Pandemic Hub, had these reflections on this year’s WHA:
This year’s WHA was unique in several ways. The world is responding to a pandemic, war and security challenges, and increasing risks from climate change as well as economic crises. In the midst of all this is the continued re-emergence of infectious diseases. The 75th WHA was also the first since the establishment of the WHO Pandemic Hub, incorporated into a new Division of Surveillance and Epidemic Intelligence, in the Health Emergencies Programme of WHO. It was an opportunity to share our ideas for the future, reflect on our joint challenges, and stand in solidarity to develop solutions. We met with representatives of Member States and our partners to reflect on these complexities in the context of health emergencies. We continue to work with Member States in the ongoing development of our collaborative approach to strengthen pandemic and epidemic intelligence with coordination by the WHO Pandemic Hub. I was particularly thrilled by the emergence of new national public health agencies and centers for disease control. They will be natural partners for us as we grow.
Our new Speaker Series
The Pandemic Hub will host a series of presentations on the COMPLEXITY of PANDEMICS.
The speaker series will take place quarterly and seeks to highlight the complex multidisciplinary landscape of preventing, predicting, preparing for, and responding to epidemics and pandemics. Each session will take a different perspective to jointly discuss and analyze the interplay of multi-faceted risk factors that can culminate in health emergencies.
The series will take place in Berlin, be streamed worldwide for online attendance and recorded for later viewing. We hope to inspire and be inspired by a broad and diverse audience of experts, practitioners and stakeholders in public health, environmental science, social science, and economics across sectors and regions.
COMPLEXITY of PANDEMICS N°1
Securing Human, Animal and Planetary Health
SAVE THE DATE! 5 July 2022, 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm (Central European Summer Time)
This first session of the speaker series will focus on discussing how surveillance efforts in the intertwined human, animal and planetary health sectors can be aligned in the face of increasingly complex health risks. Professor Marion Koopmans, Head of the Erasmus University Medical Center’s Department of Viroscience, will join us as the keynote speaker. Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, who leads the Pandemic Hub, will share insights into how the Hub works and navigates the complexity of pandemics in its evolving projects. Professor Ilona Kickbusch will guide us through the evening as our moderator.
REGISTER HERE.
Delivering the right things, the right way: our project management journey
The Pandemic Hub has established a Project Management Office (PMO), a cross-cutting function that supports the new division in the strategic and standardized selection, prioritization, design, and execution of all projects to maximize value and increase the likelihood of success. The aim is to facilitate a matrix approach to project delivery, which requires the allocation of resources across internal teams and with external partners. The PMO is essential for ensuring that cross-cutting collaboration is at the heart of everything we do. It supports the Hub to:
Select the right projects - Through governance mechanisms and criteria needed for screening and prioritizing projects that are aligned with the Hub’s strategy
Execute and deliver value - By establishing methodologies, standards, tools, and procedures for delivering value through projects
Ensure continuous learning - By supporting project teams with capacity development, coaching, resourcing, and monitoring and evaluation as well as quality assurance.
The PMO oversees projects that range from agile and iterative experiments to traditional and long-term initiatives. There is a specific focus on ensuring that collaboration and collaborative processes are built into every project from inception.
Five other external engagements of note
Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu spoke at a symposium on global health organised by the US Council on Foreign Relations, emphasizing the importance of WHO’s role in health emergency preparedness and response globally. Here's the link to the video footage of the meeting: https://www.cfr.org/event/strengthening-public-health-systems-global-local.
Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu participated in the “Africa Roundtable” at the Bundestag, where there was increasing consensus on the global strategic partnership needed to solve global problems.
Dr Oliver Morgan participated in a global workshop hosted by the Barcelona Institute of Public Health on Preparedness and Response in the Era of Systemic Environment and Health Crises. The discussions will be used to develop recommendations for strengthening preparedness and response at different levels and incorporating strategies based on the highest level of evidence.
Together with the Singapore Ministry of Health, the Hub’s Intelligence Innovation and Integration unit (III) facilitated a Round Table to discuss opportunities and challenges around Public Health Intelligence for One Health and how the EIOS initiative might play a role in further enhancing collaboration among the relevant agencies in Singapore. The Round Table, as well as the following EIOS system training at the end of April, were attended by more than 50 experts from all five national agencies involved in One Health activities. The visit to Singapore, as well as the meeting with partners at the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) in the Republic of Korea in early May, were aimed at further strengthening engagement with some of our key counterparts in the Western Pacific Region and their involvement in the EIOS initiative. Both visits were a chance to present and socialize the Pandemic Hub as well as to discuss opportunities for further collaboration on Public Health Intelligence in the region and beyond.
Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu was a panelist at The Rockefeller Foundation: Honoring Past and Future Collaborations event, held on the first day of the WHA. The event celebrated the Rockefeller Foundation’s admission into official relations with WHO in January 2022. The Rockefeller Foundation and WHO have a long history of collaboration in addressing global health challenges through the advancement of medical science, data, and innovation to improve equitable health outcomes for all. This event focused on pandemic prevention.