Focus on Inter-Ministerial Coordination
The Chintan Shivir brought together around 100 representatives from key ministries, including Health, Animal Husbandry, Agriculture, and Environment, along with premier research institutions, State Governments and international partners. Eleven States with a history of reporting influenza cases participated in person, while surveillance officials from State and District units joined virtually.
This wide participation enabled cross-learning and sharing of best practices, reinforcing the importance of coordinated action across sectors. The discussions highlighted the need for integrated planning to manage influenza risks that span human, animal and environmental health domains.
Health Minister Highlights Preparedness
The inaugural session featured a video message from Union Health Minister Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, who underlined the importance of aligned preparedness and response measures to build resilience against influenza. He stressed the need for surge capacity planning, particularly during peak flu seasons.
The Health Minister also highlighted the critical role of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme in monitoring influenza trends across the country. He emphasised close coordination between the Centre and States to ensure timely detection, reporting and response.
Influenza Remains a Public Health Challenge
Experts at the Chintan Shivir reiterated that influenza continues to pose a significant public health challenge, especially for vulnerable populations such as young children, older adults, pregnant women and individuals with chronic illnesses. Seasonal outbreaks place additional pressure on healthcare systems if preparedness is inadequate.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare continues to monitor influenza trends across States and Union Territories in real time through the IDSP network. Strengthening preparedness was seen as essential to reduce morbidity, mortality and economic disruption caused by influenza outbreaks.
Key Outcome: Influenza Preparedness Checklist
A major outcome of the two-day deliberations was the development of a comprehensive and structured influenza preparedness checklist. This checklist is designed to guide preparedness planning at the Centre, State and District levels.
The checklist covers four key domains: surveillance, early warning and risk assessment; strengthening of laboratory systems; hospital preparedness and clinical response; and One Health coordination, including risk communication and community engagement.
Strengthening One Health and Whole-of-Government Approach
The Chintan Shivir concluded with a strong consensus on adopting a whole-of-Government and One Health approach to address both seasonal and zoonotic influenza. Ministries reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening integrated surveillance across human, animal and wildlife sectors.
Participants also agreed on enhancing laboratory and genomic capacities, ensuring timely data sharing and aligning sectoral action plans with India’s national pandemic preparedness framework. These measures aim to improve early detection and rapid response to emerging respiratory viral threats.
