{"id":3615,"date":"2025-06-27T14:47:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T14:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/?p=3615"},"modified":"2025-06-27T14:47:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T14:47:55","slug":"pakistan-launches-one-health-initiative-with-who-fao-and-adb-to-strengthen-pandemic-preparedness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/06\/27\/pakistan-launches-one-health-initiative-with-who-fao-and-adb-to-strengthen-pandemic-preparedness\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan Launches One Health Initiative with WHO, FAO, and ADB to Strengthen Pandemic Preparedness"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD \u2014<\/strong> Pakistan has officially launched the implementation of its Pandemic Fund with support from the World Health Organization (WHO)<\/strong>, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)<\/strong>, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB)<\/strong> through a national high-level consultation in Islamabad on June 27, 2025. The initiative focuses on establishing One Health Units<\/strong> across the country as a key step toward preventing, preparing for, and responding to future pandemics by integrating human, animal, and environmental health systems.<\/p>\n

The national consultation, led by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination<\/strong>, marked the first formal activity under Pakistan\u2019s US$18.7 million Pandemic Fund<\/strong> grant. It brought together over 70 stakeholders, including senior officials from the Ministry of Food Security<\/strong>, Ministry of Climate Change<\/strong>, provincial authorities, and implementing partners. The National Institute of Health (NIH)<\/strong> will serve as the Secretariat for the One Health structure.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the event, Director General Health Dr. Shabana Saleem<\/strong> emphasized that the initiative represents a turning point for Pakistan\u2019s public health readiness. \u201cThe interdependence of human, animal, and environmental health, compounded by rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR), demands a One Health framework. This fund enables us to strengthen surveillance, build lab networks, and empower communities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Pakistan\u2019s One Health strategy<\/strong>, aligned with the National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS)<\/strong> and International Health Regulations (IHR)<\/strong>, acknowledges that more than 75% of emerging infectious diseases<\/strong> are zoonotic. This highlights the urgency of coordinated early warning systems, workforce training, and cross-sectoral data sharing.<\/p>\n

Florence Rolle<\/strong>, FAO Representative in Pakistan, commended the government\u2019s commitment to addressing zoonotic risks and AMR, noting the importance of embedding One Health platforms within existing institutional structures. WHO Representative Dr. Dapeng Luo<\/strong> reiterated the organization’s commitment to ensuring Pakistan is ready to prevent and respond to health emergencies, stating, \u201cStrengthening systems now is the only path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Representing ADB, Mansoor Ali Masood<\/strong> called the consultation a critical milestone in institutionalizing collaborative platforms for joint action. The meeting concluded with a joint agreement to establish a National One Health Secretariat<\/strong>, with strong linkages to provincial structures.<\/p>\n

CEO NIH, Dr. Muhammad Salman<\/strong>, reaffirmed NIH\u2019s commitment to supporting the implementing entities. \u201cIt is an honor to host the Secretariat. We must use this opportunity to strengthen surveillance, laboratory systems, and public health capacity across sectors,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

In total, the project has leveraged an additional US$4.1 million in co-financing<\/strong> and US$49.7 million in co-investment<\/strong>, setting the foundation for a sustainable, multisectoral public health ecosystem in Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD \u2014 Pakistan has officially launched the implementation of its Pandemic Fund with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through a national high-level consultation in Islamabad on June 27, 2025. The initiative focuses on establishing One Health Units across the country as a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1258,1257,1262,1263,1260,1254,1259,1255,1256,1261],"class_list":["post-3615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-education","tag-adbpakistan","tag-faopakistan","tag-globalhealthpakistan","tag-naphs","tag-nihpakistan","tag-onehealthpakistan","tag-pakistanhealthsecurity","tag-pandemicpreparedness","tag-whoinpakistan","tag-zoonoticdiseaseprevention"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3615"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3618,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615\/revisions\/3618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}