WHO has launched a five-year strategy for its pandemic intelligence hub, aiming to help every country detect emerging health threats within 24 hours by 2030.
The Berlin-based hub was created in 2021 after Covid-19 exposed gaps in global outbreak detection and response.
WHO says the hub has worked with 160 member states, 190 partner organisations and thousands of scientists and policymakers.
Its work will focus on open-source epidemic intelligence, pathogen surveillance, data science, collaborative surveillance and secure digital systems for public health intelligence.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a five-year strategy for its pandemic intelligence hub, aiming to help every country detect and understand emerging health threats within 24 hours of their appearance by 2030.
The strategy for the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence was announced at the opening of the World Health Summit in Berlin on October 12, 2026.
The WHO said faster detection was central to global health security, helping countries contain outbreaks before they escalate into larger epidemics or spread internationally.
The hub, based in Berlin, was created in 2021 with support from the German government after the Covid-19 pandemic exposed gaps in how countries detect and respond to emerging health threats.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the hub had become “an integral part of the global health security system” five years after its creation.
“Its new strategy charts a clear path towards 2030, uniting governments and partners around a shared goal: a world in which every country can rapidly respond to health threats before they turn into major crises,” he said.
The WHO said the hub has worked with 160 member states, 190 partner organisations and thousands of scientists and policymakers. Its work includes detecting epidemic threats, sequencing and identifying pathogens, and supporting rapid action to protect communities.
Under the new strategy, the hub will focus on five priority initiatives.
These include Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources, which uses artificial intelligence to scan thousands of publicly available sources in real time every day for signals of possible health threats. The system brings together more than 4,000 experts and is being used by more than 125 member states and 30 regional and international organisations.
Another initiative, the International Pathogen Surveillance Network, aims to strengthen countries’ ability to sequence and analyse pathogens, helping speed up the development of tests, treatments and vaccines.
The hub’s Collaboratory connects more than 2,000 experts in modelling and data science who can be mobilised when new health threats emerge.
The Collaborative Surveillance Initiative, being implemented in more than 83 countries, supports national institutions and health workforces to detect threats through a One Health approach, which recognises links between human, animal and environmental health.
A new Digital Enablers for Public Health Intelligence Initiative will develop secure digital systems to help countries and partners share, analyse and use data, while supporting the responsible use of artificial intelligence.
The WHO said achieving the strategy’s aims would require sustained investment, trusted partnerships and strong cooperation across sectors and borders.