About the Pandemic and Epidemic Management Unit

A wide range of pathogens   with epidemic and pandemic potential   including high impact pathogens continue to pose significant public health threats in the WHO South‑East Asia Region. The region remains particularly vulnerable to pandemics and epidemics caused by high‑impact pathogens (HIPs), including pandemic‑prone respiratory viruses (such as influenza and other novel respiratory pathogens), zoonotic diseases, cholera, viral haemorrhagic fevers, Nipah virus, meningitis, and other epidemic‑prone infections. The COVID‑19 pandemic clearly demonstrated how such events can overwhelm health systems, disrupt societies and economies, and threaten regional and global health security. In this evolving risk landscape, strengthening pandemic and epidemic preparedness, prevention, and response capacities remains a regional and global priority.

Against this background, the Pandemic and Epidemic Management (PEM) unit operates within the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) at the WHO South‑East Asia Regional Office. PEM contributes directly to WHE’s overarching mission of building Member States’ capacities to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are exceeded, leading and coordinating international responses to mitigate their health, social, and economic impacts. Through its work, PEM supports WHO’s strategic objective of reducing mortality, morbidity, disability, and societal disruption caused by pandemics and epidemic‑prone diseases.

The work of the PEM unit in the South‑East Asia Region is aligned with WHO’s approach to health emergency risk management and supports implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). This approach recognizes that different health hazards   often place similar and high demands on health systems and therefore require coordinated actions across prevention, preparedness, detection, risk assessment, response, and recovery. Within WHO, PEM works in close collaboration with other programme units of WHE, other departments   as well as with cross‑cutting technical areas such as laboratories, One Health, infection prevention and control, access to medical counter measures and clinical management.

In operationalizing emergency risk management approach for biological threats, the PEM unit specifically focuses on pandemic risks and epidemics caused by high‑impact pathogens. This includes supporting Member States across the full emergency risk management cycle from prevention and preparedness to response and recovery through evidence generation, policy and strategy development, capacity strengthening, operational support, and monitoring and evaluation. PEM also plays a critical role in linking regional and country actions with global WHO initiatives, frameworks, and expert networks.

A central element of PEM’s mandate is its responsibility for pandemic influenza and respiratory pathogen preparedness and response. In close coordination with WHO headquarters and partners, PEM provides secretariat support for the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework, including facilitation of virus and benefit sharing in line with global agreements and support for implementation of PIP Partnership Contribution work plans in eligible countries. PEM also supports the expanded Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (eGISRS), the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative, WHO Unity Studies, and other global and regional networks relevant to high‑threat infectious hazards.

Overview of the PEM Unit

The Pandemic and Epidemic Management (PEM) Unit undertakes the following core functions in the WHO South‑East Asia Region:

  • Developing regional and national policies, strategies, roadmaps, action frameworks, and operational plans for pandemic and epidemic risk management aligned with  International Health Regulations (2005)  Regional Strategic Roadmap for Health Security and Health System Resilience for Emergencies 2023–2027 and other WHO global  and regional guidance.
  • Developing and disseminating technical tools, guidelines, and capacity‑building resources for the prevention, preparedness, detection, and response to pandemics and epidemics caused by high‑impact pathogens, including medical countermeasures where relevant.
  • Supporting capacity strengthening of Member States through trainings, simulation exercises, technical missions, operational reviews, and deployment of expertise for risk management of pandemics and high‑impact epidemics.
  • Establishing, coordinating, and working with regional and global expert networks to detect, characterize, and manage high impact pathogens, including networks related to influenza, respiratory pathogens, cholera, meningitis, and other priority diseases.
  • Strengthening monitoring, evaluation, and learning related to operational frameworks, strategies, and capacities for pandemic and epidemic risk management at regional and country levels.
  • Providing secretariat support for implementation of the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework, including facilitation of virus and benefit sharing, coordination with WHO Collaborating Centres, and support for effective planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of PIP Partnership Contribution–funded activities in the South‑East Asia Region.
  • Providing technical support and surge capacity to other WHE units, WHO departments, and country offices during graded, acute, or protracted health emergencies related to pandemics and epidemics caused by high‑impact pathogens.


 

For more information, please contact:

Dr Pushpa Ranjan Wijesinghe
Programme Area Manager, Pandemic and Epidemic Management 
WHO Health Emergencies Programme
WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia
wijesinghep@who.int