World Health Organization. Regional Office for South-East Asia2020-09-052020-09-052020-09-05SEA/RC73/3https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/334161The rapid evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in the WHO South-East Asia Region over the last eight months has challenged Member States and their ministries of health to respond to the pandemic. In addition, departments and ministries from other sectors beyond health also had to mount a response to optimize disrupted socioeconomic activities and keep engaged in sustaining day-to-day affairs during the enforcement of strict public health and social measures, including lockdowns.Each Member State in the Region in its unique way dealt with the various aspects of containing the spread of transmission of the novel coronavirus and the consequent health and non-health impacts, based on their existing International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 capacities and health systems preparedness for response. However, uncertainties around the specifics of the pandemic and the high risks of its rapid spread among the susceptible and immunologically naïve populations, along with a high death toll among special categories of the ‘most-at-risk’ such as the immuno-compromised and those living with chronic co-morbidities, remained. This made it essential for all Member States to adopt strict public health and social measures. Member States are also now planning a transition to a post-COVID-19 ‘new way of living’ in accordance with the epidemiologically plausible reality of long-term circulation of the virus in the population in many parts of the world.The increasing caseload of active cases of COVID-19 revealed the current gaps in curative and public health service delivery. This calls for immediate solutions as well as those that require urgent mid- and long-term attention and investment by governments. The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework and similar bilateral and multilateral initiatives could be the starting point. High vulnerabilities of people in the Region to emerging and re-emerging ‘high-threat pathogens’, and strict public health and social measures, including border closures, taken by Member States, enabled a deep understanding among health planners, decision-makers, service providers and beneficiary communities about the importance of risk identification, risk-mapping and risk reduction.The window of opportunity for strengthening the regional response through further amplification of the ‘Regional Flagship Priority 6: Scaling up of Capacities in Emergency Risk Management‘ should be accorded high priority in the Region. It should be coupled and supplemented with a greater focus on building resilient communities and medical and public health systems. The current pandemic provides the opportunity to Member States in the Region to translate commitments into actions that were expressed in the Delhi Declaration on Emergency Preparedness during the Seventy-second session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia in September 2019.This attached Working Paper was presented to the High-Level Preparatory Meeting for its review and recommendations. The HLP Meeting reviewed the paper and made the following recommendations for consideration by the Seventy-third Session of the Regional Committee.Actions by Member States(1) Continue risk identification/mapping and regular risk assessments at the national and subnational levels in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and for other prevailing risks, hazards and threats, cognizant of local demographic, geographical and sociocultural dimensions.(2) Continue with whole-of-government and whole-of-society responses, including through implementing a national, cross-sectoral COVID-19 action plan based on risk analyses that is well aligned with the existing national action plans for health security and preparedness as well as other response plans of Member States.(3) Enhance commitment and investments in risk reduction, and build robust and resilient health systems, especially during the transition to the ’new normal‘ through behaviour change communication and a health promoting environment.(4) Continue strengthening national and subnational laboratory networks and capacities to respond to the current and future pandemics based on existing pandemic influenza preparedness plans and COVID-19 laboratory expansion plans.(5) Invest in building national and regional capacities/collaboration mechanisms to implement the ’access to COVID-19 tools‘ (ACT) accelerator for diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.Actions by WHO(1) Continue providing technical guidance and tools in helping countries to adapt and make the transition to the ’new normal‘ across all pillars of the COVID-19 pandemic response.(2) Explore options to provide longer-term support to streamline essential health supply chain systems and address failures in these supply chain systems through regional and intercountry collaboration.(3) Promote collaboration at the national and regional levels, including through both private and government-funded research and development, and open innovation, across all relevant domains, on measures to contain and end the COVID-19 pandemic.(4) Provide guidance to and operational support for the health sector towards building resilient communities, drawing from the experiences of Member States, and from continuous learning and exchange.This Working Paper and the recommendations of the HLP Meeting are submitted to the Seventy-third Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia for its consideration and decision.enGoverning BoardGoverning Bodies documents