Wastewater and environmental surveillance - a global landscape analysis

Overview

The World Health Organization (WHO) has undertaken a qualitative, expert-informed landscape analysis to document the various use cases, technical approaches, governance models and operational realities of wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES) in different country contexts. The findings confirm strong global interest in WES as a complement to other types of public health surveillance, while also highlighting significant challenges related to governance, data use, ethics and its long-term sustainability. This analysis underscores that WES delivers value when it is aligned with national priorities, integrated into decision-making, and supported by clear institutional leadership and sustainable financing. This report calls for country-led approaches, a stronger focus on data interpretation and ethical safeguards, and realistic assessments of costs and capacities to ensure that WES evolves as a reliable and trusted public health tool.