Participants from Member States in South-East Asia
Advisors, experts, and partners
Colleagues from WHO Headquarters, South-East Asia Regional Office and Country Offices
Good morning.
It is a pleasure to welcome you all to this important regional meeting.
The next pandemic is not a question of if, but when. Influenza and other respiratory viruses with pandemic potential continue to pose one of the greatest threats to global health security. Our collective preparedness will determine not only how quickly we respond, but how equitably we protect people.
Over the coming days, you will examine one of the most critical dimensions of pandemic preparedness: ensuring timely access to, effective allocation of, and rapid deployment of medical countermeasures. Your discussions will help translate global commitments into practical actions that strengthen national and regional preparedness.
COVID-19 taught us an enduring lesson. Scientific innovation can move at unprecedented speed—but equitable access does not happen automatically.
Vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics were developed and deployed faster than ever before. Yet for many countries, particularly low- and middle-income countries, access to these life-saving tools came too late, especially during the most critical phases of the response.
The lesson is clear. Preparedness is not only about surveillance, early detection and risk assessment. It is also about ensuring that countries can rapidly access, allocate and deploy medical countermeasures when they are needed most.
Preparedness must extend across the entire pathway—from research and development and regulatory readiness to allocation, distribution and last-mile delivery. Innovation saves lives only when it reaches the people who need it, at the right time. Countries must have the systems, capacities and partnerships to make this possible.
Medical countermeasures are among the clearest expressions of equity during a health emergency. They determine how quickly outbreaks can be contained, how effectively lives can be protected, and whether countries can respond with confidence.
The global landscape is evolving.
The Pandemic Accord places equity, solidarity and shared responsibility at the centre of pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. In parallel, the amended International Health Regulations strengthen commitments to timely and equitable access to medical countermeasures through improved coordination, greater transparency and stronger international cooperation.
Together, these reforms lay an important foundation to ensure that no country is left behind when the next pandemic emerges.
WHO is also strengthening the global architecture for equitable access to medical countermeasures. The Interim Medical Countermeasures Network helps align global supply and demand and enhances coordination across partners, supporting countries to access vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics more efficiently during public health emergencies.
At the same time, preparedness initiatives such as PRET are helping countries strengthen operational readiness for respiratory pandemics. In our Region, the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework has demonstrated the value of solidarity and benefit-sharing for more than fifteen years.
For the WHO South-East Asia Region, this work is especially important. Home to nearly two billion people and some of the world's busiest travel corridors, our Region has both the experience and the responsibility to strengthen preparedness through regional cooperation. Strong national systems are essential, but they are even stronger when supported by collaboration, information sharing and coordinated action across borders.
Nonetheless, important gaps remain.
Equitable access requires strong national systems, effective governance, regulatory preparedness, resilient supply chains and public trust. Above all, it requires sustained political commitment and global solidarity. No country can prepare for the next pandemic alone, and no country should have to.
Before I close, I would like to thank the Government of Sri Lanka for hosting this meeting and for its continued commitment to strengthening health emergency preparedness and health security across our Region.
I also thank all of you for your expertise, commitment and collaboration.
I encourage you to engage actively, share your experiences openly and learn from one another. The recommendations that emerge from this meeting can help strengthen national preparedness, advance regional cooperation and ensure that countries are better equipped to protect their populations during future health emergencies.
The next pandemic will test not only our scientific capabilities, but also our solidarity. The work you undertake here can help ensure that when the next emergency comes, countries across our Region can act faster, respond together and ensure that life-saving medical countermeasures reach everyone who needs them.
I wish you productive discussions and look forward to your recommendations.
Thank you.