WHO and China CDC Training Program on Intelligent Public Health and Open-source Epidemic Information Held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province

From 23 to 26 September 2025, the Global Public Health Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) and the World Health Organization jointly held the third training program on intelligent public health and open-source epidemic information in Suzhou. The program was hosted by the Global Public Health Center and co-organized by the Suzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It aimed to strengthen core public health capacities in WHO Western Pacific Region member states and in China’s global health training bases. Participants included representatives from the World Health Organization, delegates from nine Western Pacific Region member states, namely Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Viet Nam, as well as representatives from China CDC’s Global Public Health Training Base and relevant departments of the center.

Group Photo of the Training Program[Photo/chinacdc.cn]

At the opening session, remarks were delivered by Qi Xiaopeng, Director of the Global Public Health Center, Dr Sarika Patel from the WHO Health Emergencies Programme in the Western Pacific Region, and Wang Haitao, Director of the Suzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The program adopted an immersive, participatory format that combined lectures, experience sharing and field visits. The agenda covered an introduction to intelligent public health, upgrades to EIOS technologies, experience sharing, multi-source data monitoring and the application of rapid risk assessment. Field visits were arranged to the Suzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Fifth People’s Hospital of Suzhou and the Jiangling Community Health Service Center in Wujiang District, where artificial intelligence applications in routine disease control work and in the integration of medical care and public health services were demonstrated.

This training marked the third consecutive year of collaboration between the two sides. It has helped build a regional cooperation platform and advance technical cooperation with the World Health Organization, providing technical and human resource support for public health surveillance and early warning, intelligent public health and related areas in the Asia-Pacific region. Through the field visits, international participants also gained a fresh understanding of China’s practices in digital health and basic community-level public health services, offering Chinese approaches for regional public health practice and decision-making.