In the paper, special attention was given to the value-proposition for genomic surveillance across a range of high-priority disease groupings prioritised by resource-limited settings in Asia. These priority groups included tuberculosis, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, respiratory pathogens, zoonotic pathogens with high spillover risk, arthropod-borne viruses, novel/ emerging pathogens and the implementation of environmental surveillance as an early detection platform.
Ruklanthi (Rukie) de Alwis from the Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreak Preparedness noted that “National surveillance planning is an essential precursor to scaling up pathogen genomics for public health use. This paper is a starting point to enable in-country capacity to primarily improve early warning systems, as well as extended use cases such as informing new diagnostics and vaccines.”
“What is crucial is to transform genomics from a research tool into a pillar of our public health response to outbreaks and epidemics,” said Prof Vitali Sintchenko from the University of Sydney. “As a region, countries must work together to better respond to diseases in Asia in real-time. Better and more equitable access to genomics can change the game.”
Moving forward, the described framework should assist in the integration of pathogen genomic sequencing within national surveillance plans, establishing reporting mechanisms to inform real-time public health decisions and effective cross-country genome data sharing. Leveraging the experience from the COVID-19 pandemic, coordinated global efforts should be championed to rapidly translate genomic data into novel pandemic response tools. Enabling data access for all countries remains a central priority for regional and global health security.
*Partners include the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response (PREPARE), Agency of Science Technology and Research (Singapore), University of Sydney, Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute and Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology – Public Health, Westmead Hospital (Australia), University of Oxford, Ministry of Health (Indonesia) and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (Philippines).