The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a global network to prevent disease. The International Pathogen Surveillance Network aims to improve sample collection systems, using data that can contribute to public policy, facilitate decision-making by managers, and share information more widely among the scientific community.
The initiative was announced on Saturday (20), on the eve of the 76th World Health Assembly (WHA), which runs until May 30. In a speech at the event on Monday (22), WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom highlighted the importance of preparing countries for new health emergencies.
“The threat remains of the emergence of another variant that causes new outbreaks of disease and death. And the threat of another emerging pathogen with even deadlier potential remains. And pandemics are far from the only threat we face. In a world of overlapping and converging crises, an effective architecture for health emergency preparedness and response must address emergencies of all types,” said Adhanom.
disease screening
The new network uses genomic information on disease-causing agents as a database, based on the analysis of the genetic code of viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms. The goal is to better understand characteristics of infections, such as symptoms, transmission and health risks.
According to the WHO, scientists and public health specialists will be able to identify and track diseases based on the information. From this, the idea is to prevent and respond to outbreaks as part of a more comprehensive surveillance system, in addition to developing treatments and vaccines.
With the operationalization of the network, WHO points out that countries will be able to detect and respond to disease threats before they become epidemics or pandemics.
“The purpose of this new network is ambitious, but it could also play a vital role in health security: to give all countries access to sequencing and genomic analysis of pathogens as part of their public health system”, said the director general of the WHO.
Source: CNN Brasil
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