ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has launched its National Wastewater Environmental Surveillance (WES) Strategy and the National WES Genomics Dashboard, aiming to strengthen disease surveillance, improve outbreak preparedness, and enhance evidence-based public health decision-making.
Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Syed Mustafa Kamal inaugurated the initiative at a ceremony hosted by the National Institute of Health (NIH), attended by senior government officials, provincial health authorities, municipal agencies, academia, development partners, the Aga Khan University (AKU), and the Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreak Preparedness, Singapore.
Addressing the event, the minister described wastewater environmental surveillance as a strategic investment in Pakistan’s public health system, saying it would improve early warning capabilities, support timely outbreak detection, and enable informed public health responses. He also stressed the need to strengthen wastewater treatment infrastructure and called for sustained collaboration among government institutions, academia, and international partners to expand the programme nationwide.
NIH Chief Executive Officer Dr. Muhammad Salman said the launch marks a major step forward in enhancing Pakistan’s public health surveillance and outbreak preparedness. He noted that the WES platform would enable early detection of priority pathogens, support evidence-based policymaking, and improve the country’s ability to respond to emerging health threats through a coordinated One Health approach.
Wastewater surveillance allows health authorities to detect disease-causing pathogens circulating in communities before many infected individuals develop symptoms or seek medical care. Building on Pakistan’s successful environmental surveillance programme for poliovirus, the new national strategy expands monitoring to include multiple infectious diseases of public health importance.
The launch also featured the inauguration of the National WES Dashboard, hosted by NIH, which integrates laboratory and surveillance data for real-time monitoring, geographic mapping, trend analysis, and outbreak preparedness.
The strategy was developed through a collaborative process led by NIH in partnership with Aga Khan University and the Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreak Preparedness, with contributions from federal and provincial institutions, technical experts, and public health stakeholders. It establishes a coordinated national framework for wastewater surveillance, strengthens laboratory and genomic monitoring, standardises surveillance protocols, and enhances inter-agency coordination.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Vincent Pang of the Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreak Preparedness said wastewater surveillance is most effective when scientific data is translated into public health action. He emphasized that strong partnerships across sectors, including immunisation authorities, are essential to reducing the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases and supporting timely, evidence-based health interventions.
Dr. Afreenish Amir of NIH highlighted the success of pilot implementation at 14 surveillance sites in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Karachi. She said the pilot demonstrated wastewater surveillance’s effectiveness as an early warning system and expressed confidence that, with continued support, the programme could be expanded nationwide to strengthen outbreak detection, monitor emerging pathogens, and guide targeted vaccination campaigns and other preventive measures.
