Background

The WHO organized a global consultation to develop a public health research agenda for influenza. The agenda builds upon two major WHO documents – the 2002 WHO Global Agenda on Influenza and the 2006-2007 WHO Strategic Action Plan for Pandemic Influenza – that stress the importance of research in influenza prevention and control. It also reflects important findings and recommendations developed by different animal and human health agencies for influenza control and other organizations. A number of international consultations held between 2002-2009 have further strengthened the need to develop a research agenda for influenza.

Outline

The Research Agenda is organized around a framework of five key research streams. These areas of research are of particular importance to public health decision-makers for both well and less-resourced countries.

• Stream 1: Reducing the risk of emergence of pandemic influenza.
• Stream 2: Limiting the spread of pandemic, zoonotic and seasonal epidemic influenza.
• Stream 3: Minimizing the impact of pandemic, zoonotic and seasonal epidemic influenza.
• Stream 4: Optimizing the treatment of patients.
• Stream 5: Promoting the development and application of modern public health tools.

Objectives

• Provide a framework reflecting public health research priorities for pandemic, zoonotic and seasonal epidemic influenza
• Identify specific research topics, reinforce and establish their importance in meeting public health needs over a medium-to-long term period
• Maintain a focus on less well addressed areas, such as operational research and the needs of under-resourced countries
• Facilitate discussion and coordination among researchers, donors and public health professionals
• Highlight the need for and benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to address knowledge gaps in public health related to influenza

In order to evaluate the impact of WHO’s initiative to encourage research on better prevention and control of influenza globally, a biannual progress review was conducted. WHO Secretariat, with help from the scientific committee, identified high priority public health research topics from the five main research areas (‘Streams’) and commissioned literature reviews for each. Over 4000 citations of publications from 2010–2011 in more than 200 journals or other peer-reviewed publications were found through the literature reviews and database searches for this Progress Report.

• WHO Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza - Biannual Full Progress Review and Report with references
• Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses
  Special Issue: Proceedings from the WHO Meeting on Global Research for Influenza

WHO convened the first global consultation on a Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza from 17 to 20 November 2009. The consultation brought together over 90 public health decision makers, academic and clinical investigators, representatives from donors/funding organizations and other key stakeholders from 35 countries. The aim of the consultation was to review the draft Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza proposed by WHO and to facilitate its implementation.

Report of the First Global Consultation - November, 2009
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