WHO Meeting on the Update of the Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza

27 – 29 August 2024
Geneva, Switzerland

Background 

The 2009 influenza pandemic identified some crucial limitations in addressing the public health impact of influenza disease due to gaps of understanding of the virus and its effect on individuals and populations. To bridge these gaps, WHO convened a global consultation and published the Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza 2009. In 2017, an update was published after extensive consultations, identifying high-priority areas in influenza research to reduce the burden of seasonal epidemic influenza, and the risk and impact of pandemic influenza. 

The 2017 research agenda defined five areas of work: 

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

The recent COVID-19 pandemic, although due to a non-influenza virus, has broadened knowledge in areas of transmission, pharmaceutical interventions, and non-pharmaceutical measures. Meanwhile influenza virus has been constantly evolving causing epidemics in humans, spilling to new species, including mammals, such as the recent avian influenza outbreak in dairy cattle, and imposing pandemic threat to humans.

In this context, there is a pressing need to update the WHO Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza. To address the need, in early 2024 WHO established virtual work streams corresponding to the above defined Streams.

Scope and objectives

The overall aim of the meeting is to review the progress from all work streams and finalize the process towards the completion of update of the WHO Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza, with specific objectives to:

  • Review findings from systematic literature reviews commissioned by WHO and discuss progress made since the 2017,
  • Review progress of the work by work streams so far, providing feedback and recommending adjustments,
  • Identify and analyse knowledge gaps cross all work streams, and develop strategies to address them for the update of research agenda, and
  • Produce a first draft of high-priority areas in influenza research.

In addition, high priority research questions for low- and middle-income countries will also be discussed.

Participants (by invitation)

  • Leads and co-leads of the five work streams
  • Literature reviewers, and
  • Other external and WHO experts