On May 20, in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners established the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) to help protect people against the risk of infectious diseases through pathogen genome surveillance.
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| The logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) near its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. (Source: Reuters) |
IPSN will provide a platform to connect countries and regions, improve sample collection and analysis systems, use this data to drive public health decision-making, and share that information more widely.
Pathogen genomics analyzes the genetic code of viruses, bacteria, and other disease-causing organisms, to understand how infectious they are, how dangerous 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 develop treatments and vaccines.
IPSN , whose Secretariat is based at WHO's Center for Pandemic and Outbreak Intelligence, is composed of highly skilled experts from around the world in genomics and data analysis from governments, philanthropic foundations, multilateral organizations, civil society, research institutes and the private sector.
All share a common goal: Detect and respond to disease threats before they become epidemics and pandemics, while optimizing routine disease surveillance.
“This new network has an ambitious goal, but at the same time it can play a vital role in health security: providing every country with access to pathogen genome sequencing and analysis as part of its public health system,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“As has been clearly demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic, the world is stronger when we stand together to combat common health threats,” Mr. Ghebreyesus stressed.
Covid-19 highlights the critical role of pathogen genomics in addressing pandemic threats. Without rapid sequencing of the SARS-COV-2 genome, vaccines could not have been as effective or developed as quickly as they have been; new, more transmissible variants of the virus would not have been identified as quickly.
Genomics is at the heart of effective preparedness and response to epidemics and pandemics, and is also part of ongoing surveillance for a wide range of diseases, from foodborne illnesses and influenza to tuberculosis and HIV. For example, its use in tracking the spread of drug-resistant HIV has led to antiretroviral treatment regimens that have saved lives.
Although genomics capacity in countries has recently expanded as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries still lack effective systems for collecting and analyzing samples or using that data to make public health decisions.
There is currently insufficient sharing of data, practices and innovations to build a robust global health surveillance architecture. Budgets that soared during the pandemic to rapidly build capacity are now being cut, even in the wealthiest countries. Diseases do not respect borders, and a threat to one country is a threat to others.
IPSN will address these challenges through a global network, connecting geographic regions and disease-specific networks, to build a collaborative system to better detect, prevent and respond to disease threats.
Members will work together in task forces focused on specific challenges, supported by funding through IPSN to scale up pathogen genomics ideas and projects.
By connecting countries, regions and broader stakeholders , IPSN will help build critical capacity, elevate regional and national voices, and reinforce the Network’s priorities.
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