Strengthening health security on a regional basis

In the third week of August, attention through discussion was raised as to how Asia can strengthen Regional Health Security before the next pandemic emerges in an interconnected world where infections can circle the globe in hours. It has been highlighted that cooperation in preparing for pandemics is essential.

Health analysts Dr. E. Banzon, Dr. M. Apostol and Anne Cortez (communications and knowledge management consultant with ADB) have underlined that COVID-19 pandemic highlighted just how vulnerable countries are when surveillance is fragmented, laboratory networks are underfunded and underequipped, and vaccines are not dispersed equitably.

In this context, it has been suggested that to safeguard regional health security, several health interventions must be treated as regional public goods.

Regional public goods have been defined as services or assets that benefit multiple countries but cannot be provided by a single nation alone. They allow developing economies to cooperate on costs, expertise, and technology for greater development impact than they could achieve individually.

Regional public goods fall into three broad categories: economic initiatives such as transport infrastructure, energy networks, and trade agreements like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership; environmental efforts including river basin management, pollution control, and cross-border conservation programmes; and social investments such as public health systems, regional education platforms, and collaborative research networks.

Countries in Asia and the Pacific already work together on trade, infrastructure, and climate action. Broadening areas of cooperation, however, can help countries meet their development goals and address increasingly complex health challenges, including emergencies.

This partnership is particularly important in the area of health emergency response.

A succession of human and animal infections including SARS, avian influenza, African swine fever and COVID-19 have shown just how quickly pathogens can go from a local problem to one that threatens regional and even global security. Countries can protect themselves through early alerts and early action via coordinated surveillance, data-sharing, and equitable vaccine access.

Responses to many recent outbreaks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, have been slow, fragmented, and unfair. Greater regional cooperation can mitigate the impacts of epidemics, especially for the most vulnerable, by pooling expertise, resources, and response capacities.

Health intersects with transport, trade, gender equality, education, and livelihoods. A healthy population underpins a resilient economy and supports social stability. Supporting each other to build systems that can prevent and respond to outbreaks makes sense for countries and the region.

To respond faster and smarter to the next pandemic, countries in Asia and the Pacific should focus on four high-impact areas regional integration and collective action:

CONTACT TRACING NETWORKS: Early detection saves lives but only if data move faster than the disease. A regional contact tracing network, using interoperable digital tools and shared protocols, can help track outbreaks across borders.

By linking national systems through common standards and real-time data-sharing agreements, countries can monitor risks in high-risk areas, such as along borders and major transit corridors, and prevent spread.

HEALTH COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATION: Misinformation was a major problem during the COVID-19 pandemic, eroding public trust and weakening response efforts. A regional health communications framework, backed by multilingual messaging templates, rumour tracking systems, and coordinated press briefings, can ensure consistent, culturally relevant, and science-based public information across countries. Successes in reaching vulnerable populations and mobile communities can also be quickly shared.

TELEMEDICINE FOR CROSS-BORDER CARE: Regional telemedicine platforms can connect healthcare providers across borders, especially in remote or small island states, ensuring continued access to care even when in-person services are disrupted. Joint investments in infrastructure, digital health standards, and clinician training can allow countries to offer virtual consultations, diagnostics, and even specialist referrals across the region.

REGION-WIDE PUBLIC HEALTH FUNDS: Collaborative procurement of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics have helped countries respond to disease outbreaks, and eradicate public health threats. Region-wide public health funds maintained by cooperating counties offer a means of improving timely access to life saving countermeasures.

Effectively preventing and preparing for pandemics requires countries to work in concert. These approaches can strengthen all types of health services and build resilience to all kinds of health threats. Now is the time to act decisively and secure a healthier, more prosperous future for all.

However, analyst Shreya Komar has drawn particular attention to the World Health Organisation's latest report which offers little new clarity and raises serious concerns about international cooperation and scientific transparency. On June 27, 2025, the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) released its second report examining how the COVID-19 virus emerged. Despite years of work and renewed international focus, the findings have been widely criticised for failing to break new ground. Much of the blame has been directed towards China who did not provide the requested critical data leaving glaring holes in the investigation. 

It has been correctly pointed out that the search for COVID-19's origin is not simply an academic exercise. Understanding how this virus entered the human population is crucial for preventing the next pandemic. Scientists agree that future coronavirus outbreaks are not only possible but also likely. Knowing whether SARS-CoV-2 came from a wildlife market or a laboratory accident informs how humanity prepares for the next spillover.

While the SAGO report acknowledges both the zoonotic spillover and lab-leak theories as plausible, it stresses the need for further evidence. That evidence remains frustratingly out of reach.

Most virologists continue to believe that the virus has a natural origin, a view reinforced in a new documentary titled "Unmasking COVID-19's True Origins" released by Real Stories on July 15 -"the vast majority of virologists understand the virus had a natural origin," one expert says in the film. Still, without access to early samples and full records, both theories remain scientifically viable, and political tensions continue to cloud the inquiry.

This latest WHO report comes just weeks after a major development in global health policy. On May 20, 2025, the World Health Assembly adopted the long-anticipated WHO Pandemic Agreement, a legally binding treaty intended to strengthen preparedness for future outbreaks. The Agreement aims to fix the deep weaknesses revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic: sluggish coordination, delayed data sharing, and unequal access to vaccines and treatments.

The treaty commits countries to share information on emerging pathogens faster, to improve cooperation on disease surveillance, and to distribute medical tools like vaccines more equitably. It also respects national sovereignty, meaning that countries will not be forced to relinquish control of their public health decisions. Still, some provisions, particularly those concerning the sharing of pathogen samples and related benefits, remain under negotiation and are expected to be finalized in 2026.

The WHO's first SAGO report released on June 9, 2022, also found that both leading origin theories were possible and called for further data from Chinese authorities. The absence of transparency since then has only added frustration among scientists. The call for cooperation is not just about this virus but about preparing for what comes next.

Meanwhile, research vital to fighting COVID-19 and future respiratory diseases has quietly stalled. In 2024, Ohio State University was awarded US Dollar 15 million to study new treatments for SARS-CoV-2 and long COVID. One promising clinical trial focused on a drug to treat hypoxemic respiratory failure, a leading cause of death among hospitalised patients. But halfway through, the National Institutes of Health abruptly terminated the funding. The cancellation saved US Dollar 500,000 but came after US Dollar 1.5 million had already been spent.

As a result, researchers were forced to abandon the trial entirely, delaying possible treatments that could have helped the nearly one million people hospitalized annually for respiratory failure caused by COVID, flu, and other infections.

Consequently, scientific leaders have observed that the world must do the opposite of what is currently happening. They have advised that countries, particularly the developed countries, need to invest more, not less, in pandemic-related science. Research that has suffered or been underfunded must be revived and expanded. More international partnerships are also needed, especially with researchers in hotspot regions in South and South East Asia, including China, to ensure that the global community is better equipped to face the next threat.

However, it is quite clear that without transparency, funding, and political will, it may remain this way for years to come. Unfortunately, if that happens, the world could be left just as vulnerable when the next pandemic emerges.

Muhammad Zamir, a former Ambassador is an analyst specialised in foreign affairs, right to information and good governance.
muhammadzamir0@gmail.com