India hosts Quad workshop on pandemic preparedness to boost One Health approach to combat health threats

India is hosting a workshop on pandemic preparation for senior health officials and technical experts from 15 nations in the Indo-Pacific region as well as Quad member states.

According to the External Affairs Ministry, the “Quad Workshop on Pandemic Preparedness for the Indo-Pacific Region,” which started on Monday and runs through March 19, will concentrate on pandemic preparedness, namely governance, monitoring, and innovation.

The occasion is a result of the Quad Leaders’ Summit that took place in September and is part of India’s leadership of the Quad grouping, which consists of the US, Japan, and Australia.  One of the Quad’s main tenets is now cooperation on health concerns.

The workshop’s panel discussions will centre on bolstering global health frameworks, improving readiness and resilience, guaranteeing coordinated pandemic responses, and putting the “One Health” concept into practice.

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According to the ministry, there will also be talks about capacity building, illness surveillance, risk communication, and community involvement.

In order to improve response tactics and foster cross-border collaboration, participants will work in groups and participate in simulations centred around pandemics including avian influenza, mpox, and ebola.

The international delegates will get a firsthand look at India’s emergency response capabilities, surveillance systems, and public health infrastructure. Additionally, they will pay visits to the National Centre for Vector-Borne Disease Control and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

The workshop has drawn over 25 delegates from 15 other countries, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, the Maldives, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Thailand, in addition to senior health officials and technical experts from the Quad member states and international health organisations.

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Principal Scientific Advisor Ajay Kumar Sood, Union Health Secretary Punya Srivastava, Additional Secretary in the Health Ministry V. Hekali Zhimomi, and Additional Secretary (Americas) in the External Affairs Ministry Nagaraj Naidu Kakanur spoke at the workshop’s first session, which was opened by Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel.

According to the ministry, the Quad workshop represents a “milestone in building a more robust, coordinated health security framework for the Indo-Pacific.”