Health emergencies and pandemic response
Health emergencies are events that pose urgent threats to public health. Events such as disease outbreaks, pandemics and natural disasters. Burnet is helping our region prevent, prepare and respond to health emergencies by supporting institutions to connect and work together effectively. These partnerships are often across different sectors. They strengthen health systems and communities so that they can better withstand the shock of a health emergency. Our work also includes real-time disease surveillance and innovation in vaccines and diagnostics.
Challenges of health emergencies and pandemic response
The concept of health emergencies covers a wide range of complex, overlapping threats. Burnet is addressing challenges such as:
- the emergence and re-emergence of diseases such as Mpox, COVID-19, polio, and avian influenza
- ongoing protracted emergencies and pandemics, such as HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis
- shortcomings in disease surveillance systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries
- the disproportionate impact of health emergencies on marginalised groups such as refugees and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
Stories
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Life-saving impact of global vaccine stockpiles
New Burnet research highlights the critical role of global vaccine stockpiles in preventing widespread outbreaks of deadly diseases.
Burnet welcomes the adoption of a pandemic agreement at the World Health Assembly
Poliovirus detected in Papua New Guinea
Effects of climate change on health
Climate change exacerbates existing health challenges and creates new issues.
It's extending the range of diseases such as malaria, Zika and Japanese encephalitis that are spread by mosquitoes. Some of these diseases have epidemic potential.
Climate change increases the frequency of floods, bushfires and other natural disasters. These can put added strain on health services that are already managing the complex health needs of populations, such as disease outbreaks.
Climate change makes food production and supply less predictable. This makes it more difficult for people to get the nutrition they need. Access to nutrition is a social determinant of health. Social determinants of health are non-medical factors that affect a person’s chances of good health. They include things such as access to education and job opportunities that are often unfairly distributed within and between countries. Social determinants of health make access to good health unequal and climate change can make the situation worse.
How Burnet tackles health emergencies and pandemic response
Burnet’s expertise covers prevention, preparedness and response. Our approach aligns with the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations and the Pandemic Agreement.
Prevention
We work to prevent diseases. Our NATNAT project studied vector controls for mosquito-borne diseases in Papua New Guinea. Our Pathway to Clean Indoor Air and ELUCIDAR projects seek to reduce the spread of airborne infections through monitoring and improving indoor air quality and better ventilation in buildings in Victoria, Australia.
One Health approach
One Health recognises the connections and inter-dependencies between human, animal, plant, and ecosystem health. We use this understanding to harness the capabilities of different sectors and respond to threats such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), vector-borne diseases, and disease outbreaks amplified by climate change.
Surveillance and early warning systems
We lead and support disease surveillance systems across Australia, the Pacific and South-East Asia, identifying areas for incremental improvement. We contribute to sentinel surveillance – testing people in the community for diseases – which enables early warning and rapid responses.
Vaccines and diagnostics
Burnet is developing flexible vaccine platforms and rapid diagnostics that can be adapted for emerging diseases.
Policy, governance, and partnership
Our work is built on collaborations with governments, laboratories, hospitals, and international bodies. We help to establish governance structures that enable coordination and decision-making across different sectors. The amended International Health Regulations and the Pandemic Agreement will come to frame globally how we work together to prevent and respond to health emergencies and pandemics. Burnet, in partnership with the AIID, seeks to work collaboratively to support and strengthen the adoption of these international laws.
Community engagement and communication
We co-design communications with community partners, using their own languages and culturally appropriate formats. This ensures trust and encourages people to engage with public health bodies, particularly among communities that are most at risk.
Know-C19: preventing and preparing for pandemics
Set up in response to COVID-19, this flagship initiative is taking lessons learned from the pandemic to prevent and prepare for future health emergencies.
Our achievements
Burnet has supported responses to health emergencies and pandemics in Australia and abroad.
Contributing to worldwide antimicrobial resistance surveillance
Burnet is the grantee of the Fleming Fund Country Grant. The Fleming Fund is a UK aid program that tackles antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Papua New Guinea. Our activities include helping establish an AMR surveillance system that feeds into the World Health Organization’s global AMR database, GLASS.
Adapting existing surveillance systems for new threats
Burnet is a lead implementing partner in ACCESS (Australian Collaboration for Coordinated Enhanced Sentinel Surveillance of Sexually Transmissible Infections and Blood Borne Viruses). During a global outbreak of the mpox virus in 2022, we rapidly adapted ACCESS’s surveillance platform to monitor mpox in Australia. We have also adapted ACCESS to monitor HIV in Myanmar, including trends from diagnosis to treatment.
Informing responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
Our COVID-19 modelling directly informed public health policy in Victoria during the pandemic. Our Optimise Study helped guide Victoria’s approach to COVID-19. It aimed to prevent new infections and reduce the health, social and economic impacts of restriction and prevention measures. The findings informed equity-based approaches.
TIGER C19 is a collaboration between Burnet Institute and the University of Melbourne. Short for ‘Timely Integration of user-GEnerated Responses to COVID-19', the approach combines big data analytics of social media posts with qualitative research methods. The monthly reports generated were invaluable in understanding community responses to COVID-19 policy and practice. The TIGER methodology and approach is applicable to other health emergencies and public health issues.
Community partnerships
Burnet worked with groups such as the North East Multicultural Association and Language Loop and the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria to improve emergency communications as part of the VOICE partnership.
Equity in health emergencies
Burnet’s approach is grounded in equity. Our projects focus on ensuring no one is left behind during a health emergency.
This includes:
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advocating for equitable access to health products across all countries.
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ensuring public health messages reach all communities by using appropriate language and formats.
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drawing on the lived experience of communities to design effective interventions.
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recognising and addressing the issues that make certain groups of people vulnerable in times of crisis.
Featured publications
GALV-KoRV-related retroviruses in diverse Australian and African rodent species
Virus Evolution
Joshua A. Hayward, Shuoshuo Tian, Gilda Tachedjian
Baseline assessment of front-line health system capacity in vector-borne disease surveillance and response in Papua New Guinea
PLOS Global Public Health
Rachael Farquhar et al
Evaluating the impact of COVID ‐19 vaccination strategies on infections and hospitalisations in Victoria with non‐seasonal epidemic wave patterns: a modelling study
The Medical Journal of Australia
Fenella McAndrew, Romesh Abeysuriya, Nick Scott
Effectiveness of community-based oral antiviral treatments against severe COVID-19 outcomes in people 70 years and over in Victoria, Australia, 2022: an observational study
The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific
Christina Van Heer et al
High SARS-CoV-2 attack rates in areas with low detection after community transmission established in Port Vila, Vanuatu, April 2022
Western Pacific surveillance response journal
Florita Toa et al
TB programme outcomes in South Fly District, Papua New Guinea, were maintained through COVID-19
Public Health Action
Mathias Bauri et al
Our projects
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Building a Centre of Excellence for Research and Training for DR-TB in Daru, Papua New Guinea
This project aims to strengthen operational research capacity for tuberculosis in Papua New Guinea through structured training, mentorship and research.
Tackling antimicrobial resistance in Papua New Guinea
By 2050, antimicrobial resistant bacteria (AMR) could cause 10 million deaths annually. Our collaborative project supports Papua New Guinea’s domestic AMR response.
Development of a novel antibody for treatment and prevention of respiratory disease
We’re developing a novel class of antibody and delivery technologies to provide enhanced protection and therapeutic performance for coronaviruses and other respiratory infections.
Our working groups
Immunisation and Health Systems Strengthening
AMR-One Health
Pacific Infectious Diseases (Operational Research, Surveillance and Resilience)
Infectious Diseases Implementation Science
Viral Entry and Vaccines
Surveillance and Data Linkage
Burnet Diagnostics Initiative (BDI)
Know-C19
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