Prof. VK Paul, Member NITI Ayog
Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary to Government of India, Department of Health Research
Distinguished delegates, partners and colleagues
A very good morning to each of you.
I am pleased to join this distinguished gathering for the Regional Consultation on Vaccine and Immunization Research Preparedness for Vaccine-Preventable Disease Outbreaks and Pandemics in the WHO South-East Asia Region.
My thanks to all of you who have joined us from our Member States representatives, academia, regulatory authorities, global experts, and partners.
A week ago, we marked World Health Day 2026.
The theme “Together for Health. Stand with Science” is particularly relevant to our discussion today.
Research preparedness for vaccines and immunization sits precisely at the intersection of this call for science and solidarity.
Science is at the heart of all that we do, and it must be the basis for collaboration across countries.
Immunization, as we know, remains one of the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions.
It saves an estimated 4.4 million lives every year around the world.
In the Member States of our region, it has helped eliminate or control 18 vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) in one or more Member States.
It has also rapidly evolved beyond ‘traditional’ infectious diseases, and now helps prevent cancers, address antimicrobial resistance, and strengthen health across the life-course.
And vaccines have also been at the centre of the response to most of the Public Health Emergencies of International Concern.
It is evident that they are a cornerstone of global health security.
And yet, alongside these strengths we also see weaknesses.
As we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic, our bigger challenge was not vaccine development. It was the timely generation of context-specific evidence to guide their use.
Delays in research on effectiveness, safety, delivery and behaviour translated into delayed decisions, inequities, and an avoidable loss of lives.
We also face fragmented data systems, regulatory bottlenecks, and limited clinical trial capacity—and an ‘infodemic’ of misinformation that eroded trust in science and affected vaccine uptake.
Recurrent and increasingly frequent VPD outbreaks—including measles, Japanese encephalitis, diphtheria, dengue and other diseases, even those with vaccines in the pipeline such as Nipah—underscore that this is not a one-off challenge, but a persistent threat requiring sustained preparedness.
Consider this:
if the world had delivered COVID-19 vaccines within 100 days, modelling experts at Imperial College suggests that
more than 8 million lives could have been saved,
nearly 800 million infections prevented, and
up to 15.7 million hospitalizations avoided.
The economic benefit alone could have reached 14.3 trillion US dollars.
As we can see, speed in research saves money and saves lives.
Our region is uniquely positioned.
We have the largest birth cohort in the world.
We have tremendous manufacturing capacity, producing more than 40 percent of the world’s vaccines.
We have strong scientific institutions.
And yet, we have not translated these strengths into timely, high-impact research.
And this is why research preparedness is essential to our pandemic readiness.
This requires pre-established governance systems, pre-approved protocols and strong research sites.
It needs agile regulatory pathways, and real-time data systems. Preparedness ensures rapid generation of high-quality evidence that is both impactful and actionable.
And standing with science, in this context, means building systems that allow science to move at speed.
Importantly, it also builds strong and sustainable research ecosystems for ‘normal’ times, making health systems more efficient, resilient, and forward-looking.
Our vision is clear: a ready-to-activate immunization research ecosystem; one that generates rapid, coordinated, and policy-relevant evidence.
This will require stronger regional collaboration.
It will require investment in research networks, and enhanced data and modelling capacity. It will require us to align governance and regulatory systems.
Partnerships are, of course, key, and I thank the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations for their partnership and support in organizing this consultation.
Through such collaborations, our regional research readiness will not only be strengthened but will also directly contribute to achieving global aspirations such as the ‘100 Days Mission’.
Let me leave you with a simple but stark truth: the next pandemic is not a question of if, but when.
Today’s research preparedness will define tomorrow’s response
We are all here today, together for health. And we are all here at this consultation because we stand with science.
For that, I thank you.