This year marks the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework at the Sixty-fourth World Health Assembly. The PIP Partnership Contribution has been implemented in the WHO European Region to strengthen epidemiological and virological surveillance, facilitate the establishment of national influenza vaccination programmes and support pandemic preparedness planning.
Every 2 years, WHO/Europe convenes a face-to-face meeting under the PIP Framework to bring together experts from PIP priority countries to review progress and exchange experience on seasonal and pandemic preparedness, present new WHO guidance and tools, and identify priorities for further strengthening seasonal and pandemic influenza preparedness in priority countries.
Objectives
The objectives of the Meeting are to:
- review progress and challenges in national epidemiological and virological surveillance for influenza and other respiratory infections;
- exchange updates and experiences on seasonal influenza vaccination policies and programme implementation;
- review national approaches to updating and testing pandemic preparedness plans;
- facilitate structured experience-sharing between national experts and identify opportunities for peer-to-peer collaboration; and
- familiarize participants with relevant WHO guidance on integrated respiratory disease surveillance and pandemic preparedness planning and discuss its practical application in country contexts.