Building a culture of pandemic preparedness in the Western Pacific Region

From plans to a culture of preparedness

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how invaluable established pandemic plans are before a crisis hits. Across the Western Pacific Region, countries drew on existing influenza plans to coordinate early responses, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic stretched systems in unprecedented ways. This reinforced a clear lesson: preparedness cannot be a one-off activity; it must be built and maintained over time.

Through the PIP Partnership Contribution (PC), countries in the region have invested in developing and routinely testing their pandemic plans. Simulation exercises have become a core tool to move plans from paper into practice, identify weaknesses in a safe environment and strengthen coordination.

Testing real-world coordination through simulation

Simulation exercises allow emergency responders and decision-makers to "stress-test" contingency plans, procedures and systems. In the Western Pacific Region, many of these exercises have focused on strengthening multi-sectoral coordination in line with global guidance, including the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative.

Exercises in Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia and the Philippines have surfaced a common challenge: how to coordinate the many entities involved in responding to respiratory threats. Through successive exercises, these countries have clarified the roles and responsibilities of key sectors, such as animal health, agriculture, disaster management, foreign affairs and health promotion, at each stage of an escalating pandemic.

Multisectoral simulation exercises have also reinforced the importance of a One Health approach. Reflecting on recent exercises, Dr Listiana Aziza, Head of Surveillance and Emerging Infectious Disease Intervention Unit at the Ministry of Health Indonesia, noted that they "reaffirmed the value of a One Health approach and strong coordination across all sectors and levels". By introducing more complex scenarios and testing contingency plans over time, Indonesia is using this momentum to strengthen readiness against potential avian influenza threats in the region.

Enabling a cycle of preparedness

A key lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic was that pandemic preparedness requires continuous investment and advocacy for updating and exercising multisectoral plans. Of the nine countries supported technically and financially through the PIP PC to update and test their pandemic plans, five have conducted more than one exercise, and five have updated their plans more than once.

The Cook Islands and Mongolia demonstrated how repeated testing and updating build robust systems over time. The Cook Islands Ministry of Health drafted their respiratory pathogen preparedness plan and validated it through an exercise in 2023. Lessons from the exercise, including the need to improve access to trusted health information in geographically dispersed communities and to clarify the roles of different sectors, directly informed the finalization and endorsement of the plan. In Mongolia, more than a decade of efforts, including Exercise PanStop in 2018 and Exercise PanPRET in 2023, shaped regular updates to pandemic response systems. These exercises helped officials refine decision-making structures, risk communication and surge capacity, building confidence that plans will work under pressure.

Looking ahead and sustaining gains

As implementation under the PIP PC progresses, countries in the Western Pacific Region are demonstrating that simulation exercises are not a box to tick, but an ongoing, directed effort to learn, adapt and sustain preparedness gains. These exercises enable countries to build on existing plans, apply lessons learned and strengthen systems.

Continued investments in exercise-informed capacity building allow countries to anticipate evolving pandemic influenza risks, test more complex scenarios and systems, and strengthen multi-sectoral and community-level preparedness. This sustained cycle of planning, testing and improvement is helping ensure that when the next influenza pandemic hits, countries are ready to respond quickly, effectively and collectively.