Year: 2026 | Month: April-June | Volume: 11 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 104-113
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijshr.20260213
Global Health Security at Risk: A Public Health Perspective on the Impact of US Policy Shifts on Influenza Surveillance
Anshuman Sinha1, Kaushikee K2, Sanjay Kumar3
1Junior Resident, Department of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar, India;
2Junior Resident, Department of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar, India;
3Professor and Head, Department of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar, India;
Corresponding Author: Anshuman Sinha
ABSTRACT
The Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS), coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO), depends on continuous, cross-border data sharing to select vaccine strains twice a year and detect emerging pandemic threats before they outpace the public health response. The United States, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and two WHO Collaborating Centres, has historically contributed a disproportionate share of the virological data and financial resources that sustain GISRS's analytical capacity. Recent US policy decisions, including formal withdrawal from WHO in 2025, have raised practical questions about how this architecture will function with reduced American participation.
This review examines how this policy changes affect the operational integrity of global influenza surveillance. We discuss the structure and function of GISRS, the specific role of US institutions within it, and the downstream consequences of diminished engagement: delayed detection of antigenic drift variants, increased vaccine mismatch risk, and weakened pandemic early warning capacity. We also analyse the Nagoya Protocol and the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework, the legal instruments governing pathogen sharing, and how political disengagement could complicate both. Special attention is given to consequences for countries such as India, which carry large influenza burdens while depending on WHO-coordinated guidance for vaccine selection and outbreak response.
The review concludes that surveillance gaps created by policy-driven disengagement carry clinical and epidemiological costs. Maintaining depoliticized scientific exchange, protecting virus-sharing pathways, and securing predictable funding for global surveillance are practical measures that can limit those costs. The public health community has a responsibility to make these technical stakes legible to policymakers before the consequences become irreversible.
Keywords: Influenza surveillance, GISRS, WHO withdrawal, global health security, vaccine mismatch, pandemic preparedness, PIP Framework