The WHO Country Office in Turkmenistan hosted a technical mission aimed at enhancing the country’s integrated epidemiological surveillance of influenza and acute respiratory infections (ARI). The event was conducted within the framework of the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Partnership Contribution.

James Fielding, Technical Officer for Respiratory Virus Surveillance at WHO/Europe, took part in the visit alongside WHO/Europe experts Kirill Stolyarov and Daria Danilenko. Together they provided advisory and technical support to national stakeholders on the implementation of integrated sentinel surveillance of influenza and ARI. They also monitored and evaluated the updated surveillance protocol across expanded sentinel centres, focusing on epidemiological and virological components as well as data collection and analysis systems.

In addition, the team reviewed the implementation of the electronic program for surveillance of influenza and ARI, proposing amendments to align with updated national guidelines for routine and sentinel surveillance.

A seminar was conducted to build national capacity on the principles of sentinel surveillance for influenza, mosaic surveillance strategies, data management for epidemiological surveillance, and virological surveillance. The experts also participated in a panel session during a scientific conference on health care, education and sports held in honour of Medical Workers’ Day in Turkmenistan.

Site visits were conducted to key public health institutions in Ashgabat, including Health Home No. 10, the Direсtorate of Centres for Prevention of Infectious Diseases, the Sanitary and Epidemiological Service of Ashgabat City, the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service under the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan, and the Virological Reference Laboratory at the Public Health and Nutrition Centre. These visits provided an opportunity to review laboratory surveillance practices for influenza and ARI and to assess the operational capacity of sentinel surveillance systems.

The mission concluded with a strategic discussion of key findings, technical recommendations and proposed next steps to further strengthen Turkmenistan’s integrated surveillance system for influenza and ARI. WHO/Europe reaffirmed its commitment to ongoing collaboration in support of the country’s public health preparedness and response efforts.