Pandemic preparedness: developing national plan for respiratory pathogen pandemic in Kazakhstan

Abstract Issue The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of ensuring preparedness for future pandemics, the quality of which depends on compliance with WHO recommendations, the requirements of International Health Regulations (IHR), and implementation of multisectoral approach. Description of the problem In 2024, a national committee consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and Ministry of Emergency Situations (MoES) of the Republic of Kazakhstan, with the support of WHO, developed a national pandemic preparedness and response plan for the period 2025-2029. To ensure quality, an evaluation was conducted aimed to assess its concordance to WHO's Preparedness and resilience for emerging threats (PRET) Module 1, and to IHR core capacities using the latest SPAR tool (2021). Results The developed plan documents necessary system structures (e.g. health care resources, supply chains), emergency preparedness actions (e.g. strengthening surveillance systems, early warning mechanisms, training personnel), and roles and responsibilities of multisectoral stakeholders to operationalize core capacities in a health emergency. Overall, the plan was developed in high concordance to the WHO and IHR requirements. Lessons While developing a pandemic plan is generally considered the primary responsibility of the MoH, the effective implementation of a range of key components such as, for example, OneHealth approach, effective surveillance and response to biological threats and other emergencies, which may occure before (e.g. zoonotic outbreak, earthquake) or during pandemic (e.g. clean water shortage, syndemic epidemic) can be achieved only with involvement of other multisectoral stakeholders (e.g.MoA, MoES). Future iterations of the plan development will be conducted jointly with extended range of relevant stakeholders, that will enhance intersectoral collaboration and increase quality of implementation of incorporated in the plan activities. Key messages • The developed national multisectoral pandemic preparedness and response plan in Kazakhstan covers all the main components recommended by WHO’s PRET Module 1 and complies with the IHR requirements. • Involvement of the MoA and MoES in the plan development allowed for implementation of OneHealth approach and for addressing health emergencies that may precede or arise during the course of pandemic.