Avian Influenza and the Pandemic Threat

Dr David Nabarro (Senior UN System Influenza Coordinator) led a roundtable on preparedness at the ISDR Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva on 10 May. The Roundtable explored best practices for financing and coordinating disaster preparedness efforts. 300 people attended the roundtable, which was addressed by panelists from the European Parliament, the Governments of Chile and the United States, and the United Nations.

During the roundtable, Dr Nabarro launched the ‘Towards a Safer World’ initiative. He said ‘’Towards a Safer World will advance the art of disaster preparedness by drawing lessons from the vast and diverse experience of influenza pandemic preparedness over the past 5 years’’

Rashid Khalikov, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Geneva Director, called for more funding for preparedness. ‘’Preparedness is perennially underfunded as it falls between the stools of development funding and humanitarian funding’’, he said.

Dr Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director General, World Health Organisation, argued that ‘’To justify and stimulate the funding that we badly need, we must get better at documenting, detailing, pricing and measuring the consequences and costs of major disasters’’.

Dr Mukesh Kapila, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, emphasized that ‘’The most poor and vulnerable need to see benefits today as well as prepare for tomorrow. Effective disaster reduction interventions have the potential to improve lives now. That is the best driver for getting people to think about and invest in a safer and more sustainable tomorrow’’.

Dr Geoffrey Love, World Meteorological Organisation, highlighted that ‘’It is critical to build networks with key players before a disaster strikes’’.

Dr Ron Waldman, United States Agency for International Development announced that ‘’The Towards a Safer World process will build consensus around practical approaches to move the disaster preparedness agenda forwards’’

Dr Nabarro drew 4 key conclusions from the Panel’s discussions:

1. Effective preparedness requires that civil society, development agencies, Governments, the military, the private sector and the Red Cross Movement collaborate closely together – a so-called ‘whole-of-society’ approach

2. We need to integrate preparedness into the sustainable development agenda
3. Simulation exercises are an indispensable tool for testing contingency plans
4. We need to focus on preparedness at community level

TASW is organizing a conference at the World Food Programme in Rome on 15-16 September to debate and disseminate lessons from pandemic preparedness that will help strengthen disaster preparedness. Before then, a community of experts is sharing experiences and working together to debate and identify the most critical lessons online at www.towardsasaferworld.org

Background information

• Towards a Safer World, a background [.pdf]

• Agenda: High level roundtable: Preparedness [.pdf]