Laboratory preparedness for potential pandemic agents

In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) through all its member states adopted the legally binding legal framework, the International Health Regulation (2005). All member states are required to have the ability to 1): Ensure surveillance systems can detect acute public health events in a timely manner (Detect), 2) Assess public health events and report to WHO of events that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern (Assess and report), and 3) Respond to public health risks and emergencies (Respond). In compliance with the IHR requirements, Malaysia established the Malaysia Strategy for Emerging Diseases (MySED) I Workplan (2012- 2015) and the more recent MySED II (2017- 2021) in tandem with the implementation of the WHO WPRO Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies (APSED). The COVID-19 pandemic which started in earnest in early 2020 offered a real-time opportunity to assess the utility of the MySED Workplan for Malaysia. Among the core components of the workplan is laboratory preparedness. Here we highlighted and described the relevance and importance of university laboratories in serving as the next line of responder in the face of a raging pandemic. These laboratories are usually reference laboratories that can perform select agent research andable to complement pandemic screening programs performed by the public health laboratories. These experiences brought to light the need to include these laboratories in the overall strategy and workplan for future pandemic plan preparedness beyond MySED II.