WHO sets a 24-hour outbreak detection goal in a new five-year strategy for its pandemic intelligence hub

13 October 2026

The World Health Organization launched a five-year strategy, covering 2026 to 2030, for its Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence.
The goal is that by 2030 every country can detect and understand an emerging health threat within a day of its appearance, so that outbreaks are contained before they become epidemics or spread internationally.
The strategy was launched at the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany. The Hub was created in 2021 with foundational support from the German Government.
WHO says the Hub has worked with 160 WHO Member States and 190 partner organizations.
Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources has over 4,000 experts and is used by more than 125 Member States and 30 regional and international organizations, while the Collaboratory connects more than 2,000 modelling and data science experts.
Five priority initiatives are named: Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources, the International Pathogen Surveillance Network, the Collaboratory, the Collaborative Surveillance Initiative and the new Digital Enablers for Public Health Intelligence Initiative.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Hub “has become an integral part of the global health security system”.