India hosts three-day Quad workshop on pandemic preparedness
The event is part of India’s presidency of the Quad grouping, which includes the US, Japan and Australia, and is an outcome of the Quad Leaders’ Summit held last September.
Senior health officials and technical experts from Quad member states and 15 countries across the Indo-Pacific Region are participating in a workshop on pandemic preparedness in India.
The ‘Quad Workshop on Pandemic Preparedness for the Indo-Pacific Region’, which began on Monday and will continue till March 19, will focus on pandemic preparedness, particularly governance, surveillance and innovation, the external affairs ministry said.
The event is part of India’s presidency of the Quad grouping, which includes the US, Japan and Australia, and is an outcome of the Quad Leaders’ Summit held last September. Cooperation on health issues has emerged as a key pillar of the Quad.
Panel discussions at the workshop will focus on strengthening global health frameworks, enhancing preparedness and resilience, ensuring coordinated pandemic responses, and implementing the ‘One Health’ approach.
There will also be discussions on risk communication, community engagement, disease surveillance and capacity building, the ministry said.
Participants will engage in group work and simulations on pandemics such as avian influenza, Mpox and Ebola, refining response strategies, and promoting cross-border coordination.
The foreign delegates will gain first-hand insight into India’s public health infrastructure, surveillance systems and emergency response capabilities. They will also visit the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the National Centre for Vector-Borne Disease Control.
Apart from senior health officials and technical experts from the Quad member states, the workshop has attracted more than 25 delegates from 15 other countries, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, the Maldives, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Thailand, and international health organisations.
The inaugural session of the workshop, inaugurated by minister of state for health Anupriya Patel, was addressed by 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.
The Quad workshop is a “milestone in building a more robust, coordinated health security framework for the Indo-Pacific”, the ministry said.