Emerging disease surveillance and response in the Pacific

All Pacific island countries and areas are vulnerable to emerging infectious diseases, including pandemics, food and water insecurity, and to natural hazards, especially extreme weather events that are expected to increase in severity or frequency as a result of climate change.

WHO assists countries and areas in the Pacific to strengthen infectious disease surveillance and response systems. A key activity is the management and coordination of the weekly Pacific Syndromic Surveillance System (PSSS) that provides early warning alerts for potential disease outbreaks. PSSS collects, collates and reports surveillance data from 23 Pacific island countries. The system reports information that could indicate the start of an outbreak-prone disease.  

Pacific syndromic surveillance reports

The Pacific Syndromic Surveillance System (PSSS) collects data on the following syndromes: acute fever and rash, diarrhea, influenza-like-illness, prolonged fever and dengue-like illness. PSSS serves as an invaluable early warning tool for common outbreak-prone diseases and a mechanism for regular contact between Pacific island countries and areas, WHO and other international agencies such as the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. 

The Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network (PPHSN)

The Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network (PPHSN) is a voluntary network of countries, areas and organizations. Created jointly by WHO and the Secretariat of Pacific Communities in 1996, PPHSN is dedicated to the promotion of public health and improving public health surveillance and response to health emergencies in the Pacific. Its main priority is communicable diseases, especially ones prone to outbreak. Target diseases include: dengue, measles, rubella, influenza, leptospirosis, typhoid fever, cholera, SARS and HIV/STIs.  

To achieve its goals, PPHSN harmonizes the health data needs of Pacific countries, develops adequate surveillance systems and computer applications, adapts public health surveillance training programmes to local and regional needs, and promotes opening the network to new partners, new services and other networks. 

Supporting the International Health Regulations

WHO provides Pacific island countries with support to implement the International Health Regulations 2005. Specifically, WHO created the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies as a roadmap to assist Pacific island countries in meeting IHR obligations by strengthening public health emergency surveillance, response and communication capacities. 

Our work

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Pacific Technical Support
To coordinate and provide timely, tailored support and backstopping to 21 Pacific island countries and areas, in 2010 the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office established the Division of Pacific Technical Support (DPS) in Suva, Fiji. The Division’s work spans 5 main areas and is delivered in close collaboration with Pacific governments, other UN agencies, development partners, donors, and nongovernmental organizations to achieve better health outcomes for Pacific island communities.