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Crossing borders, improving pandemic preparedness: South-East Asia leads with Exercise PanPRET-2 [1]

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Date: 2024-11

As part of the Region’s ongoing efforts to prepare for future respiratory pathogen pandemics, WHO's South-East Asia Regional Office conducted a multi-country simulation exercise on Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats from 17–18 October 2024 in New Delhi, India. This exercise aimed to:

Strengthen regional capacity in pandemic planning for influenza and other respiratory pathogens;

Test and evaluate multilateral coordination and communication mechanisms for respiratory pandemic preparedness and response;

Reinforce and clarify roles and responsibilities between countries and international stakeholders; and

Identify opportunities for improving cross-border respiratory preparedness and collaboration.

The simulation exercise built on the introductory International Health Regulations (IHR) webinar for national focal points from all Member States in the WHO’s South-East Asia Region held in August 2023 and the regional meeting conducted on 12–13 October 2023 to further introduce and operationalize PRET in the Region. Representatives from 11 Member States in the Region (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor Leste), along with partners from the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, United States Agency for International Development, and United States Centers for Disease Control.

Simulation exercises are critical tools to strengthen capacities to prepare for, detect and respond to epidemics and pandemics. This exercise, called Exercise PanPRET-2, was a tabletop simulation that engaged participants in a discussion-based setting, where they responded to a fictional scenario set in three countries. The scenario progressed through five stages, beginning with the emergence of a novel respiratory virus (TosFluA) in one country, which eventually spread regionally, evolving into a pandemic. The exercise explored regional coordination and collaboration, joint risk assessment, implications on regional trade and travel, management of marginalized populations including migrants and refugees, and post outbreak recovery and joint future preparedness strategies.

The South-East Asia Region was the first region to implement Exercise PanPRET-2, resulting in valuable insights for improving multi-country pandemic preparedness. By conducting this exercise, participants identified the strengths and opportunities to strengthen national pandemic plans, as well as strategies to foster robust cross-border coordination and communication mechanisms. It also served as a precursor for more comprehensive national and regional simulation exercises scheduled for 2025, reinforcing the Region’s proactive approach and commitment to respiratory pandemic planning.

Reflections on the training

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[1] Url: https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2024-crossing-borders-improving-pandemic-preparedness-south-east-asia-leads-with-exercise-panpret-2

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