By Asmau Ahmad
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and partners are launching a global network to help protect people from infectious disease threats through the power of pathogen genomics.
In a statement, it said that the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) would provide a platform to connect countries and regions, improving systems for collecting and analysing samples.
It said they would use the data to drive public health decision-making and sharing that information more broadly.
“Pathogen genomics analyses the genetic code of viruses, bacteria and other disease-causing organisms to understand how infectious they are, how deadly they are, and how they spread.
“With this information, scientists and public health officials can identify and track diseases to prevent and respond to outbreaks as part of a broader disease surveillance system, and to develop treatments and vaccines,” it said.
The statement said that the network, with a secretariat hosted by the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, brings together experts worldwide at the cutting-edge of genomics and data analytics, from governments and stakeholders.
According to it, all the experts share a common goal to detect and respond to disease threats before they become epidemics and pandemics, and to optimize routine disease surveillance.
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said that the goal of the new network was ambitious, but it can also play a vital role in health security.
Ghebreyesus said it would give every country access to pathogen genomic sequencing and analytics as part of its public health system.
“As was so clearly demonstrated to us during the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is stronger when it stands together to fight shared health threats.
“COVID-19 highlighted the critical role pathogen genomics plays in responding to pandemic threats.
“Without the rapid sequencing of the SARS-COV-2 genome, vaccines will not have been as effective, or have been made available so quickly,” he said.
According to him, more transmissible variants of the virus will not have been as quickly identified.
WHO boss said that genomics lies at the heart of effective epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response
He said the genomics was also part of the ongoing surveillance of a vast range of diseases, from foodborne diseases and influenza to tuberculosis and HIV.
According to him, its use in monitoring the spread HIV drug resistance for example, has led to antiretroviral regimes that have saved countless lives.
Dr Rajiv Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation, said that global collaboration in pathogen genomic surveillance has been critical as the world fights COVID-19 together.
“IPSN builds upon this experience by creating a strong platform for partners across sectors and borders to share knowledge, tools, and practices to ensure that pandemic prevention and response is innovative and robust in the future.
“Despite recent scale-up in genomics capacity in countries as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many still lack effective systems for collecting and analysing samples or using those data to drive public health decision-making
“There is not enough sharing of data, practices, and innovations to build a robust global health surveillance architecture.
“Budgets that soared during the pandemic, allowing a rapid build-up of capabilities, are now being slashed, even in the wealthiest countries,” Shah said.
