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Panama City, Panama, 12 May 2025 – The promotion of wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES) as essential tools for public health preparedness and response was top of the agenda at the GLOWACON Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean, which concluded last Friday in Panama City.
The two-day conference, co-organised by the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) of the European Commission and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), brought together over 70 onsite participants and more than 130 virtual attendees from across the Americas and beyond, including public health officials, researchers, environmental scientists, funders, and international partners.
Building on the momentum of previous GLOWACON meetings, this regional conference focused on leveraging wastewater and environmental surveillance to support the implementation of epidemic intelligence, strengthen early warning systems, and integrate WES into broader public health efforts across the Americas. It aligns with PAHO’s Strategy on Epidemic Intelligence for Strengthening Early Warning of Health Emergencies (2024–2029), which aims to enhance early detection of outbreaks, pandemic-prone diseases and other health emergencies. It also supports PAHO’s Regional Genomic Surveillance Strategy (2022–2028), which promotes the use of genomic data and fosters coordination across public, animal, and environmental health sectors.
In his opening address, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Director of PAHO, highlighted the transformative potential of wastewater surveillance: “Wastewater surveillance is not just about detecting pathogens – it’s about building integrated systems, scaling up public health intelligence, and ensuring no one is left behind. Latin America and the Caribbean have shown remarkable leadership and innovation in applying these tools to real-world challenges.”
Representing the European Commission, Laurent Muschel, Deputy Head of HERA, underscored the importance of international collaboration: “The collaboration between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean is more crucial than ever. Together, through initiatives like GLOWACON, we are building a global sentinel system that strengthens our ability to identify health threats early, act quickly, and save lives. Wastewater surveillance must become a fundamental part of our epidemic preparedness but also a tool for response.”
Participants explored a wide range of topics, including the integration of genomic surveillance into WES, innovative technologies for wastewater analysis, data interpretation and sharing mechanisms, regulatory frameworks, and the importance of community and cross-sectoral engagement. Discussions also focused on how to operationalize wastewater data within public health decision-making processes and how to scale up successful models already being implemented across the region.
A call was made for increased investments by governments, regional bodies, and the international community to expand laboratory capacities, harmonized methodologies, and embed WES into national and regional epidemic intelligence networks. The importance of sustainable funding, cross-sector collaboration, and capacity building was repeatedly emphasized as critical to future success.
About GLOWACONLaunched in March 2024, the Global Consortium for Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance for Public Health (GLOWACON) provides a platform to advance inter-sectoral collaboration, innovation, and capacity building. It promotes the integration of wastewater and environmental surveillance into early warning systems for public health decision-making and pandemic preparedness.
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