A4-day activity heldin Islamabad on “Metagenomics-based Approach for Viral Disease Surveillance”, from 16 to 19 September 2024, has been a significant advocacy effort to create a shift from pro-curative to pro-preventive approach in medicine. The event was a calculated effort in this direction by the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South(COMSATS), in collaboration with the Trieste, Italy, based International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology (ICGEB).
If there is one lesson to be learnt from COVID-19, it is that of pandemic preparedness. Like, many developing countries, Pakistan has faced significant challengesin dealing with the curative phase of COVID-19, due to factors like population density, healthcare access, and varying public compliance with health guidelines. COMSATS’ attention to such emerging technologies comes with due realization of the limited resources, expertise, and infrastructure that can hinder extensive metagenomic studies.Strengthening these capabilities is essential for effective pandemic preparedness and response.Not discouraged by still insignificant emphasis on metagenomics amid developing countries whose interest COMSATSserves, the organization is taking tangible steps to help improve their access to metagenomic technologies and expertise. The international metagenomics workshop on activity with ICGEB was the first of those steps.
The event highlighted the importance of integrating metagenomics into health systems could revolutionize the rapid and comprehensive surveillance of emerging viral threats. Participation of the Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, as chief guestand that of Ambassadors, High Commissioners, Academicians, Scientific Experts, Representatives of UN Agencies and International Organisations, Government officials, and eminent personalities from various walks of scientific domains reflected the interest the event had evinced and the successful holding of it. Seventy-fivescholars from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Sudan,werethe beneficiaries of the knowledge and expertise shared by the genetic engineering and biotechnology experts from ICGEB, Italy, the Royal Scientific Society (RSS), Jordan, King’s College London, UK, COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan, and the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), Karachi.The theoretical sessions and hands-on training by the experts, inter alia, resulted in insights onviral metagenomicsand metagenomics sequencing technologies,and related software. For Pakistan, leveraging these technologies could enhance public health strategies, improve disease surveillance, and foster a deeper understanding of the microbiome’s role in health and disease. At the closing session of the Metagenomics Workshop,the keynote Speaker, Prof. Dr. Shahzad Ali Khan, Vice Chancellor of the Health Services Academy’s critical analysis of the healthcare environment in the developing countries, including Pakistan, was thought provoking and an eye-opener. His candid views would be helpful for COMSATS to chart its next steps in the context of viral disease surveillance and the sort of international and intra-COMSATS collaboration we should be seeking to bridge the gaps. Dr. Shahzad gave a clarion call to the doctors at grassrootsto think beyond individual patients to community medicine and public health.
Developing countries, therefore, need to focus on preventive medicine with a public health view-point. The definition of the term ‘public’ in the context of health should include the global populations in cases of the health challenges that transcend boundaries, COVID-19 being a recentand pertinent example. A permanent institutionalised intergovernmental and international mechanism for viral disease surveillance is imperative and should be backed by policy initiative by the governments to ensure effective prevention to help lessen the global impact of pandemics from one case of infectious disease becoming a global health emergency. A case study of polio in this region is a compelling reason to support the surveillance mechanism.ICGEB’s willingness to open up more avenues for collaboration with COMSATS is promising and encouraging. On the other hand, COMSATS is fully conscious that such activities are needed on a regular basis to address looming threats posed by rapidly mutating and strengthening strains of pathogens, especially for developing countries who are highly vulnerable to their regional and global impact.
In Pakistan, COMSATS Telehealth (CTH) is a technology based public health programme that has been working in public health domain for two decades and also servesas sentinel to global health issues, especially for developing countries. COMSATS University Islamabad, a flagship project and Centre of Excellence of COMSATS, and other academic and research institutions with bio-informatics and other related programmes could help foster useful academic collaborations and research outputs. COMSATS can help offer institutional arrangements such as these and international collaborations to promote related interventions and policy development. COMSATS remains committed to generate momentum for R&D and global cooperative activities aimed at improving long-term health security and capacity building among its fraternity and beyond.
