WHO designates new Collaborating Centre for Digital Public Health and Pandemic Preparedness

WHO has designated the University College London (UCL) Centre for Digital Public Health in Emergencies as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Digital Public Health and Pandemic Preparedness. The designation strengthens cooperation on the use of digital tools and data to prevent, detect and respond to health emergencies, and to support resilient health systems across the WHO European Region and beyond.

The new centre is the first in the global WHO collaborating centre network to focus specifically on digital public health for pandemic preparedness. It joins a network of more than 800 WHO collaborating centres in over 80 countries, which support WHO's work through research, technical cooperation, training and knowledge generation.

"I am very excited to join forces with WHO to scale up innovative digital approaches for pandemic preparedness and response, climate resilient One Health, antimicrobial resistance, and fighting misinformation through citizen engagement. Together with WHO, we will champion sovereignty of digital technology, AI and health data, and strengthen preparedness for future health emergencies in the United Kingdom, European Region and beyond," said Patty Kostkova, Professor in Digital Health and Director, UCL Centre for Digital Public Health in Emergencies.

Panellists at the launch of the new collaborating centre (L to R): Dr Chris Lewis (Director of Global Health Protection, United Kingdom Health Security Agency), Dr Nick Johnson (Head of Virology, United Kingdom Animal and Plant Health Agency), Dr Ihor Perehinets (Health Security and Regional Emergency Director, WHO/Europe), Professor Patty Kostkova (head of the new collaborating centre), Aron Aregay (Public Health Intelligence Officer, WHO/Europe) and Professor Sam Janes (Dean of the Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London). Credit: WHO

One Health surveillance: faster data flows to public health decision-makers

A key area of work will be the application of One Health approaches that link human, animal and environmental health data to detect and manage risks at source. Many emerging infectious disease threats originate in animals, and effective multisectoral surveillance can help identify spillover risks early and support rapid response.

Paul Reynolds is a 4th year student studying for a master's in engineering in computer science and mathematics at UCL. "We are working on a mosquito surveillance platform which will help us to identify breeding hotspots in order to more effectively reduce the rates of vector borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya," he says. "It's so exciting and enriching to see the impact of the app on the health agents who use it. Currently they are using a slow, paper-based system, whereas the app allows for real-time information; data flows much more quickly and allows public health decision-makers to move resources and identify targets much faster."

The designation will also support WHO's work to address antimicrobial resistance, including improved data availability, laboratory information systems and stewardship interventions. Digital health tools can support more effective antimicrobial stewardship by improving access to guidelines at the point of care, facilitating timely diagnostics and enabling feedback on prescribing patterns.

The centre will collaborate with WHO on evaluating and adapting digital interventions that can be scaled across diverse health system contexts.

Responsible AI, data governance and public trust

As digital and AI tools become more widespread in health, the collaborating centre will contribute to WHO's work on responsible innovation, data governance and safe data sharing for emergencies. The work will also address the information environment as a determinant of emergency response. Online misinformation can undermine confidence in public health measures and reduce uptake of vaccination and other interventions. The collaborating centre will support efforts to strengthen digital listening, risk communication and community engagement, including approaches tailored to populations most exposed to health misinformation.

Training and capacity-building will be central to the collaboration. Planned activities include joint workshops, technical training, and the development of continuing professional development and executive training programmes. The goal is to help public health institutions, laboratories and health services build the workforce and operational capacity needed to implement effective digital public health approaches, both during routine periods and in crises.

"This new collaborating centre strengthens our ability, across the WHO European Region, to prevent, promptly detect and respond to health emergencies by using digital public health tools more effectively and responsibly - from stronger surveillance and early warning, to better analytics for decision-making, to ethical use of AI that supports public health action," said Ihor Perehinets, Health Security and Regional Emergency Director, WHO/Europe.