PAHO Practical Guide: Developing respiratory pathogen pandemic preparedness plans
Available in: English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has published a document titled “Developing Pandemic Preparedness Plans for Respiratory Pathogens,” accessible in four languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. This resource offers a clear and concise approach to the four essential steps for updating or developing preparedness and response plans for respiratory pandemics.
Based on Chapter 9 of Module 1 from the PRET initiative, the goal is for countries in the Americas to have strong, tested, and regularly updated operational plans, ensuring a quick and effective response to future threats.
Public health emergency planning is essential to ensure that the capacities developed during previous crises are maintained and integrated into responses to new threats. PAHO values the efforts of countries in the region to strengthen their pandemic preparedness plans and supports these initiatives with tools and expertise, in line with the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative.
The PRET initiative is an innovative strategy that leverages lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergencies, applying them to different pathogens based on their mode of transmission (respiratory, vector-borne, foodborne, etc.). The document highlights four key steps for respiratory pathogen pandemic planning:
- Prepare, analyze the situation and engage stakeholders
- Draft the plan.
- Evaluate, finalize and disseminate the plan
- Implement, monitor and continuously improve the plan
In addition to this document, other important resources have been translated from English to Spanish to support countries in developing strategies to strengthen their pandemic preparedness and resilience, mitigating the impact on public health, the economy, and society.
For more information, visit the PRET initiative page for the Americas Region, where you can find additional resources.
