In this fourth session, we explored the concept of Data Preparedness: how can public health leaders attain real-time, high-quality data to detect future public health risks and provide intelligence for an effective response? How do they build their institutions and workforce and develop technologies to achieve this? The session included welcoming remarks from WHO Assistant Director-General Dr Ihekweazu, who leads the WHO Pandemic Hub, Dr Steffen, State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry for Health and Dr Jee, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The centerpiece of our event were the contributions of our three speakers, Prof Riley, Director General for Data, Analytics & Surveillance at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Dr Sahukhan, Head of Health Protection at the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services and Dr Tak, Director for Risk Assessment at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency who will each shared their perspective on what being “data prepared” means in their respective country’s context. The event was moderated by Sara Hersey, Director of Collaborative Intelligence and Dr Oliver Morgan, Director of Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence at the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence.
Speakers
Prof Steven Riley | Speaker
Director General for Data, Analytics & Surveillance at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
Professor Steven Riley joined UKHSA as Director General for Data, Analytics and Surveillance and a member of the UKHSA Executive Committee on 1 October 2021. Prior to joining the UKHSA, Professor Riley was Professor of Infectious Disease Dynamics at the Imperial College, London. He worked as part of the team that helped model the scale and progress of the pandemic and informed government decisions on necessary measures to control the spread and was also part of the REACT programme. He brings with him expert knowledge and understanding of how data can be used to shape and inform our response to infectious diseases. The Data, Analytics and Surveillance (DAS) Group is focusing on putting the full power of health and non-health data in the hands of those who need it and enabling the health protection ecosystem through the provision of world-class analytics capability to inform health protection activities, decision-making, action, and outcomes.
Dr Aalisha Sahukhan | Speaker
Head of Health Protection at the Fiji Ministry of Health & Medical Services
Dr Sahukhan is the founding Head of Health Protection at the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services. In this role, she leads the Fiji Centre for Disease Control (Fiji CDC), the Environmental Health Unit, and the Health Emergencies and Climate Change department and is Fiji’s National Focal Point (NFP) for the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR). She is a trained medical doctor specialising in public health and infectious disease epidemiology. She has chaired national health taskforces and led responses to multiple epidemics, including meningococcal C, measles, and leptospirosis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Sahukhan has served as health leadership team member, a national spokesperson, and technical lead for Fiji’s pandemic response. She also represents Fiji on the IHR Learning Working Group, the Member States Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies (WGPR), and the WHO Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. In 2022, Dr Sahukhan was appointed to the IHR Review Committee regarding amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005).
Dr Sangwoo Tak | Speaker
Director for Risk Assessment at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency
Dr Sangwoo Tak is the Director for Risk Assessment at the Bureau of Public Health Emergency Response and Preparedness of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). He leads the activities of epidemic intelligence and global health surveillance as well as rapid risk assessment. Before joining KDCA, he was an associate research professor at Seoul National University focusing on biosurveillance and global health security issues. In the past, he worked as a public health surveillance expert with the US Department of Defense for a biosurveillance project and collaborated with the Korea Ministry of National Defense. From 2005 through 2011, Dr Tak served as an epidemiologist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where he initially joined as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer (class ’05). While at CDC, he participated in the responses to public health emergencies, such as the Hurricane Katrina, H1N1 pandemic, and Deepwater Horizon.
Sara Hersey | Moderation
Director of Collaborative Intelligence at the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence
Sara Hersey joined the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence as the Director of Collaborative Intelligence, at the beginning of 2023. She is an infectious disease epidemiologist who has served in global public health leadership roles over the past two decades with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Bank, and Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL). Her professional experience spans more than 50 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean where she has led efforts in outbreak preparedness and response, infectious disease prevention and treatment, strategic planning, policy, financing and program management. At the World Bank, Sara served as a senior advisor on health security and COVID-19. Sara was the first US CDC Country Director in Sierra Leone, leading their Ebola response and establishing the US Government’s Global Health Security Agenda. She was also the US CDC Country Director in South Sudan through the 2013-14 civil war. She has worked as an epidemiologist with the US CDC in Malawi and South Africa, with UNHCR responding to complex emergencies, and with FHI 360 in the Asia Pacific region. Sara Hersey holds a Master of Public Health focusing on epidemiology and complex emergencies from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College.
Dr Oliver Morgan | Moderation
Director of Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence Systems at the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence
Dr Oliver Morgan is the Director of Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence Systems at the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. He previously held the position of director of the Health Emergency Information and Risk Assessment Department in the WHO Health Emergencies Program. From 2007 through 2016, Dr Morgan worked for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he held critical leadership positions in the Ebola response between November 2014 and February 2016. From March 2010 to October 2014, he was the CDC Country Director in the Dominican Republic. Dr Morgan was an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at CDC from 2007 to 2009 with the International Emerging Infections Program, during which time he conducted projects in Thailand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, and Guatemala. Before joining CDC, Dr Morgan worked for the UK Health Protection Agency, leading epidemiological investigations of outbreaks, chemical and radiation exposure incidents, terrorist bombings in London, natural disasters, and humanitarian civil conflicts. Dr Morgan has also worked as a consultant to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in several countries. Dr Morgan’s academic achievements include a doctorate in epidemiology from Imperial College London and extensive publication in peer reviewed journals and reference books.