INTERNATIONAL PATHOGEN SURVEILLANCE NETWORK – INTERNATIONAL
News: WHO
launches global network to detect infectious disease threat
What's in the news?
● The
World Health Organization launched a global network to help swiftly detect the
threat from infectious diseases, like COVID-19, and share the information to
prevent their spread.
Key takeaways:
● WHO
and partners are launching a global network to help protect people from
infectious disease threats through the power
of pathogen genomics.
International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN):
● The
International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) will provide a platform to connect countries and regions,
improving systems for collecting and analyzing samples, using these data to
drive public health decision-making, and sharing that information more broadly.
Objective:
● To
detect and respond to disease threats
before they become epidemics and pandemics, and to optimize routine disease
surveillance.
● To
accelerate progress on the deployment of pathogen genomics and improve public
health decision-making.
Secretariat of IPSN:
● The
IPSN, 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,
philanthropic foundations, multilateral organizations, civil society, academia
and the private sector.
● The
establishment of the IPSN has been supported by German government funding to
the WHO Pandemic Hub.
Features:
● The
IPSN envisions a world where every country has equitable access to sustained
capacity for genomic sequencing and analytics as part of its public health
surveillance system.
● It
sets out to create a mutually supportive global network of genomic surveillance
actors that amplifies and accelerates the work of its members to improve access
and equity.
Go back to basics:
Pathogen Genomics:
● Pathogen
genomics analyzes 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.