US Government Intervention Regarding Improving Influenza Surveillance
and Developing a Rapid Response Plan for Pandemic Influenza

Statement by Stewart Simonson

Assistant Secretary
US Department of Health and Human Services
November 8, 2005
World Health Organization Headquarters

There appears to be general agreement that pandemic disease – whether caused by H5N1 influenza or some other microbe – is a threat to all countries, not just those in Asia, and to all economies, not just the rich or poor. We must now take decisive action to respond to that threat.

I want to focus my remarks today on one specific aspect of preparedness: the early recognition and rapid response to the emergence of a pandemic strain. We believe that the international community must take immediate steps to close the gaps in influenza surveillance and reach consensus on what actions will be taken and by whom to contain a pandemic strain when it emerges.

Specifically, in order to do this we must address the following questions:

• What data and facts on the ground will define sustained human-to-human transmission?
• What is the concept of operations for the WHO stockpile of antiviral drugs and other materiel?
• What other assets will be deployed to the outbreak site, how, and by whom?
• How will these assets be used, and by whom?
• What technical expertise will be needed, who will provide it, and how soon?
• Should international response personnel be pre-identified and made ready for immediate deployment? Would it be possible for the governments of affected and at-risk nations to grant flexible, multi-entry visas to these pre-selected experts?
• What interventions – pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical – will be employed, and under what conditions?

We must go beyond generalized planning and well-intentioned expressions of cooperation. Now is the time to speak and act with specificity. We therefore propose that the WHO immediately convene a small group of experts to draft a plan to close the gaps in influenza surveillance and to define a protocol for rapid response. This plan should be completed in time for consideration by the WHO Executive Board in January.

Finally, with the threat of a pandemic looming, we believe it important that countries voluntarily comply now with the relevant provisions of the recently revised WHO International Health Regulations in advance of their formal entry into force in 2007. Among other things and of particular importance in the context of pandemic influenza, the regulations stress the importance of early reporting of any potential public health emergency of international concern. Such early reporting may very well make the difference between success and failure in the effort to contain a pandemic.

Thank you.