Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases

Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases
Name	Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases
Abbreviation	APSED
Formation	2005
Headquarters	Manila
Region served	Asia-Pacific
Parent organization	World Health Organization

Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases is a regional public health initiative coordinated by the World Health Organization to strengthen capacities for detection, prevention, and response to infectious threats across the Asia-Pacific region. The strategy aligns with international frameworks such as the International Health Regulations (2005), engages member states including China, India, Japan, Australia, and Indonesia, and collaborates with partners such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Asian Development Bank, and the Global Fund to address emerging pathogens, zoonoses, and antimicrobial resistance.

Overview

APSED provides a framework for capacity building across national public health institutions such as ministries of health in Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, and Malaysia, integrates laboratory networks including the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, and supports surveillance aligned with the International Health Regulations (2005), the Global Health Security Agenda, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The strategy emphasizes collaboration among technical agencies like the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health, academic centers such as the University of Oxford, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and regional bodies including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Pacific Islands Forum.

History and Development

APSED was developed in response to outbreaks including the SARS outbreak, and the expansion of avian influenza caused by H5N1 in the early 2000s, prompting action from the World Health Assembly, the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, and the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office. Subsequent revisions followed lessons from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, and the Zika virus epidemic, with inputs from institutions such as the Wellcome Trust, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and national public health agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Public Health England.

Governance and Organizational Structure

Governance involves coordination among the World Health Organization, regional offices in Manila and New Delhi, technical working groups comprising experts from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and New Zealand, and partnerships with multilateral organizations like the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank. National focal points within ministries such as the Ministry of Health (Thailand) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (India) report through established channels under the International Health Regulations (2005) to WHO regional networks including the Western Pacific Regional Office and the South-East Asia Regional Office.

Key Objectives and Strategic Pillars

APSED’s objectives mirror global health priorities articulated in documents from the World Health Assembly and the United Nations General Assembly: enhancing surveillance capacity in laboratories like National Institute of Virology (India), improving outbreak response via rapid response teams modeled after Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) cohorts, strengthening infection prevention and control practices used in University Hospitals and community health centers, and addressing antimicrobial resistance in line with the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. Strategic pillars include workforce development through links to FETP, laboratory strengthening in partnership with the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, risk communication guided by protocols from UNICEF and UNDP, and zoonotic interface management involving the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organisation for Animal Health.

Implementation and Regional Activities

Activities have included joint simulations with regional partners like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Emergency Operations Centers, laboratory trainings hosted by the Pasteur Institute and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, surveillance upgrades in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation public health networks, and multisectoral workshops convened with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. APSED supported enhancements to influenza surveillance at sentinel sites in Hong Kong, Taipei, and Kuala Lumpur, and bolstered zoonotic surveillance through initiatives connecting veterinary services in Australia and New Zealand with human health agencies.

Impact, Outcomes, and Evaluations

Evaluations by the World Health Organization and external reviewers, drawing on case studies from Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia, report improvements in IHR core capacities, quicker reporting to WHO platforms during events such as COVID-19 pandemic, and strengthened laboratory networks exemplified by collaborations with the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System and regional reference laboratories in Singapore and Japan. Scholarly assessments published by institutions such as London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health note gains in workforce competency via FETP alumni deployments, while multilateral donors like the Asian Development Bank and the Global Fund cite APSED-linked initiatives as contributing to regional preparedness metrics.

Challenges and Future Directions

Persistent challenges include disparities among countries such as Papua New Guinea and Nepal in health systems capacity, supply chain constraints affecting diagnostics and personal protective equipment linked to global markets involving China and Germany, and the need to integrate One Health approaches across agencies including the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organisation for Animal Health. Future directions emphasize incorporating genomic surveillance technologies pioneered at institutions like the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Broad Institute, enhancing regional emergency financing mechanisms akin to proposals from the World Bank, and reinforcing cross-sector governance through platforms involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Pacific Islands Forum, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Category:Public health