Assessment of public health laboratory preparedness and response in WHO South-East Asia region during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and future directions
2
Issued Date
2024-12-01
Resource Type
eISSN
27723682
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85206539597
Journal Title
The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia
Volume
31
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia Vol.31 (2024)
Suggested Citation
Inbanathan F.Y., Wijesinghe P.R., Naidoo D., Buddha N., Salvador E.C., Le K.K., Dhawan S., Blacksell S.D. Assessment of public health laboratory preparedness and response in WHO South-East Asia region during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and future directions. The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia Vol.31 (2024). doi:10.1016/j.lansea.2024.100496 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/101734
Title
Assessment of public health laboratory preparedness and response in WHO South-East Asia region during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and future directions
Corresponding Author(s)
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
This Health Policy reviews the preparedness and response of public health laboratories in the WHO South-East Asia Region (SEAR) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a scoping review and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, the study identifies successes, challenges, and lessons learned from available literature and the perspective of senior laboratory leaders. Key themes include human resources, health information systems, diagnostic capacity, public risk communication, biosafety, biosecurity, funding, and laboratory network coordination. The findings provide a comprehensive overview of the adaptive capacities of laboratories, the contextual factors influencing their response, and the implications for future pandemic preparedness. This study demonstrates the resilience and adaptability of diagnostic networks in the face of a pandemic but also emphasises the need for strategic resource allocation, highlighting the importance of flexible and scalable networks in managing public health crises. The success of these deployments highlights the necessity for continual investment and coordination of national, regional, and global resources in diagnostic infrastructure to improve preparedness for future public health crises.