South-East Asia Regional Conference on Epidemiology

280 | <strong>South</strong>-<strong>East</strong> <strong>Asia</strong> <strong>Regional</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on Epidemiology
Mass media has a significant role to play in pandemic response. However, at certain times, we are not
doing very well with press communication. But looking back at the grass-root and community levels,
communications has been carried out very nicely with the active participation of health volunteers,
community leaders and NGOs. Excellent command and control and coordination under the framework
of the government exist. Thailand has opted for building national capacity to secure access to H1N1
vaccine. This task is ongoing and is not finished yet. Research and development for vaccine production
needs to be established. Thailand has purchased a certain amount of H1N1 vaccine which is being
given to high-risk groups. However, in the early phase of vaccination there were public concerns
over the safety of the vaccine that resulted in a slow vaccine uptake. We have learned that effective
surveillance and communication are needed to respond to adverse events following immunization.
Several lessons have been learned from the experiences during the pandemic response – both
of failures and successes. In an attempt to facilitate such learning, WHO’s technical assistance was
requested for a joint review of the pandemic response with the objective to identify strengths and
weaknesses and to provide guidance on how to improve response during future threats.
A joint review was thus conducted in several areas by teams of WHO and local experts, led by wellknown
authorities. The review came up with useful findings and recommendations which included,
among others, development of a regional knowledge network on clinical management, restructuring
and streamlining of the communication committees, and development and implementation of a
comprehensive national laboratory programme. It was also highlighted that Thailand should prepare a
five-year strategic plan for influenza surveillance.
Box: Roles of epidemiology in public health emergency (PHE)
In summary, the role of epidemiology in the preparedness for and response to H5N1 and H1N1
or other public health emergencies cannot be overemphasized. Before an emergency, epidemiology
serves to predict the nature, extent and severity of the threat and its likely impact, guides national
preparedness planning and monitors change of situation and actions. During the emergency itself,
epidemiology leads to early detection of problems, guides containment and mitigation measures and
helps monitor changes. Finally, after the emergency, epidemiology provides the basis for evaluation
of its impact and formulation of lessons learned in order to prepare for response to emergencies in the
future.
Thailand has benefited tremendously from the developments in epidemiology and its application
in public health.