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The Doherty Institute was unanimously approved as an allied Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network (PPHSN) member in September 2024.

The PPHSN's goal is to sustainably improve public health surveillance and appropriate responses to the region's health challenges, improving the health of Pacific Islanders. 

Created in 1996 under the joint auspices of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the PPHSN core members are the ministries and departments of health of the Pacific Island countries and territories, which serve as the Network's governing body. 

The Doherty Institute joins several other allied members, including regional training institutions, agencies, laboratories and other organisations or networks interested in the region's public health surveillance to further support the network.  

The Doherty Institute’s public health laboratories, the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) including the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research in Influenza (WHO CCRRI) and the Microbiological Diagnostics Unit Public Health Lab (MDU-PHL), are reference laboratories for the PPHSN LabNet, handling complex tests and epidemiological surveillance. 

These laboratories focus on multiple emerging infectious diseases, including enteroviruses, measles, rubella, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, which are PPHSN priority diseases. 

The University of Melbourne’s Professor Sharon Lewin, Director of the Doherty Institute, described the allied membership as a powerful catalyst for advancing regional healthcare.

“We look forward to working with the PPHSN to strengthen surveillance and outbreak response capacity throughout the Pacific, in conjunction with the Institute’s capacity building programs through our Strategic Partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and partnership with the World Health Organisation,” said Professor Lewin.   

The WHO Collaborating Centres located at the Doherty Institute provide extensive training and technical advice to health practitioners and governments in the Asia-Pacific region. DFAT recently invested $12.5 million in the Doherty Institute under its Partnerships for a Healthy Region Initiative, with the objective of improving equitable health outcomes by anticipating, preventing, detecting and controlling infectious diseases across the Pacific and South East Asia

The Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Mr Navin Karan, VIDRL’s Training and Capacity Manager and co-lead for the Public Health Cross-Cutting Discipline at the Doherty Institute, said they look forward to increasing collaboration with key regional stakeholders, development partners and Pacific ministries of health. 

“The Institute looks forward to supporting the PPHSN, strengthening existing partnerships and surveillance in the region, building resilient health systems, and improving the health of the Pacific people,” Mr Karan said.