Surveillance and response to avian and pandemic influenza in nepal (flunepal) - communicable diseases pause the greatest threat to the global health security

The COVID19 pandemic has once again showed that how vulnerable and underprepared is the world when IT is caught unaware by a highly transmissible and pathogenic virus. Influenza virus have caused several such pandemics and continues to pause the threat of imminent pandemics due to their unpredictable nature of emergence particularly the zoonotic influenza viruses including avian influenza. Influenza surveillance is essential in understanding the magnitude and impact of these annual influenza epidemics, to select influenza vaccine components, and to detect novel influenza viruses that may signal the start of a pandemic. This project intended to strengthen the influenza surveillance in nepal and to enhance the country's pandemic preparedness and response by encouraging collaboration and data sharing between human and animal health sectors. The existing national influenza surveillance system will be assessed and reviewed critically both in terms of epidemiology and laboratory capacity to identify the gaps and needs. Based on the gaps the influenza surveillance system will be strengthened to provide better geographical representation and access to laboratory capacity. The project will also enable development of a cohort of human resources at various levels to provide the country with manpower with skills required to plan, execute, collect data, analyze data to provide evidence for policy makers. Building on the influenza surveillance system, surveillance and disease outbreak as well as emergence of novel pathogens will also be strengthened. This capacity building project is expected significantly enhance nepal's capacity to respond to public health threat of emerging diseases and pandemics while contributing towards global health security.