The 2009 influenza pandemic identified many limitations in addressing the public health impact of influenza disease due to gaps in our understanding of the virus and its effect on individuals and populations. To bridge these gaps, WHO convened its first global consultation on a Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza in November 2009, and defined five areas of work (6 streams):
Stream 1. Reducing the risk of emergence of pandemic influenza
Stream 2. Limiting the spread of pandemic, zoonotic and seasonal epidemic influenza
Stream 3. Minimizing the impact of pandemic, zoonotic and seasonal epidemic influenza
Stream 4. Optimizing the treatment of patients
Stream 5: Promoting the development and application of modern public health tools
Sub-stream 5A: New Technologies in Public Health, and Mathematical Modelling
Sub-stream 5B: Social Media Tools and Risk Communication
In 2017, an update of the Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza identified high-priority areas in influenza research to reduce the burden of seasonal epidemic influenza, and the risk and impact of pandemic influenza.
Since then, some knowledge gaps have been filled and new knowledges generated e.g., the recent avian influenza infection in a new mammal species dairy cattle, but many remain. Moreover, the recent COVID-19 pandemic, although due to a non-influenza virus, has generated new knowledge in areas of transmission, non-pharmaceutical intervention, and social measures.
In this context, there is a pressing need to update the 2017 WHO Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza.
This meeting will bring Leads & Co-leads of six work streams corresponding to the six streams of the research agenda, and other experts to review the outputs from all working groups.
