India hosts Quad workshop on pandemic preparedness

India is hosting a workshop for senior health officials from Quad member states and 15 other Indo-Pacific countries, including Kenya and Madagascar, on pandemic preparedness. The three-day event, ending on March 19, focuses especially on governance, surveillance, and innovation. India is holding the presidency of the Quad grouping, which includes Australia, the US, and Japan, and the workshop is an outcome of the last Quad Leaders’ Summit in September 2024. Cooperation on health issues has emerged as a key aspect of the group.
Discussions at the workshop aim to strengthen global health frameworks, enhance preparedness, and ensure coordinated pandemic responses. Simulations on pandemics such as avian influenza, Ebola, and Mpox should reinforce cross-border coordination. Visits to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the National Centre for Vector-Borne Disease Control are also scheduled to provide foreign delegates with a direct insight into India’s public health system. The inaugural session of the workshop was addressed by Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel, principal scientific advisor Ajay Kumar Sood, Union Health Secretary Punya Srivastava, and other government representatives.