The Pandemic Fund

Background

Georgia received US$6.6 million from the Pandemic Fund to establish an effective early warning system for disease and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance by 2028. The grant catalyzed an additional US$2.4 million in co-financing and US$4.6 million in co-investment.

Over the last decade, Georgia has benefitted from economic growth. The country boasts a skilled workforce, including public health professionals, veterinarians, and laboratory specialists. In 2013, the government also rolled out universal healthcare, which has helped the country manage public health crises like COVID-19 and promote the general wellbeing of its people. Despite these advancements, Georgia's position as a transit hub and proximity to conflict-affected countries heightens its risk of epidemics and pandemics.

The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs leads the project, partnered by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, the National Food Agency, and the State Laboratory of Agriculture. The two Implementing Entities for the project are the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO). Other partners include the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions. 
 

Project objectives

With the support of the Pandemic Fund and partners, Georgia aims to bolster its ability to prevent, detect, and respond to priority diseases and AMR. 
 

Implementation arrangements and key components

The project aligns with the Pandemic Fund’s three priorities: surveillance, laboratory systems, and workforce development. Activities within each of these areas include:

1. Strengthening surveillance. This component of the project focuses on enhancing sample collection and referral systems from humans (for unusual respiratory events, using event-based surveillance tools), from animals (for respiratory, zoonotic, and AMR surveillance), from both humans and animals (for viral respiratory pathogens, using next generation sequencing and genomic surveillance), and from wastewater (to measure baseline levels of antimicrobial markers and gather information about the use of antimicrobial medicines). It also focuses on standard operating procedures and tools for the early warning system, integrating the early warning system into routine surveillance, implementing hardware and software solutions to meet end-user requirements and information needs, and running simulation exercises to measure and improve the system’s speed and efficacy.
2. Upgrading laboratories. Activities in this area focus on enabling human and animal health laboratories to support AMR surveillance and the early warning system at both the central and local levels. They also include establishing a regulatory framework and expanding the external quality assessment program to improve quality management at both public and private laboratories.
3. Developing the workforce. This work includes training the multidisciplinary public health workforce, running a communications campaign to promote awareness of disease surveillance and the early warning system, conducting KAP and point prevalence surveys for AMR, and developing a plan to reduce gender gaps. 
    

Expected outcomes

With the Pandemic Fund grant and the support of its partners, Georgia seeks to:

1. Solidify the country’s core surveillance and response functions and ensure interoperability among the relevant systems
2. Establish a multisectoral, sentinel-based early warning system that is integrated into routine surveillance and incorporates genomic surveillance
3. Continue improving alert and response efforts in support of early warning
4. Upgrade testing capabilities and laboratory quality management
5. Train the health workforce on collaborative surveillance and the early warning system and eliminate gender gaps
6. Raise awareness among farm workers, veterinarians, public health specialists, physicians, and the wider community about the importance of AMR surveillance and the early warning system.