COVID-19: The Pandemic and the Response in the WHO-South-East Asia Region

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Woman receives an updated records book for her 6 months old daughter after being vaccinated at the community clinic.

Most people with mild and moderate COVID-19 can manage the infection at home with advice from a health care provider. Here are tips on what to do if you have COVID-19, and when to go to the hospital. It also informs on what medicines to take, and what to avoid.

Learn about the COVID-19 variants

The world is in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic. As WHO and partners work together on the response -- tracking the pandemic, advising on critical interventions, distributing vital medical supplies to those in need.

Meeting Reports

Lessons learned from COVID-19 pandemic

SEA-WHE-6

Virtual Regional Consultation with Informal Expert Group Virtual meeting New Delhi, India, 19 October 2021

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Learning from the COVID-19 response to strengthen health security and health systems resilience

SEA-WHE-7

Virtual meeting, New Delhi, India, 20–22 October 2021 Report of the meeting

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Covid-19 news

15 July 2025
News release

South Asia immunizes a record-high number of children in 2024

New UNICEF and WHO data show strong government commitments, investments, and partnerships have propelled South Asia to achieve its highest-ever immunization coverage. South Asia ...

24 December 2023
News release

As COVID-19 cases rise, WHO asks countries to scale up surveillance and protective measures

The World Health Organization urges countries in South-East Asia Region to strengthen surveillance and for people to take protective measures in view of the increasing numbers of c ...

21 November 2023
News release

Vaccine regulators and officials meet to strategize integration of COVID-19 vaccines in routine immunization

To integrate pandemic vaccines in national immunization programme in countries of the WHO South-East Asia Region, vaccine regulators, and officials from WHO today began deliberatin ...

30 October 2023
News release

WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia begins with renewed commitment to advancing universal health coverage

The Seventy-sixth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia commenced today with health ministers and senior delegates from Member countries converging in India to ...

9 August 2023
Departmental update

Influenza experts in WHO’s South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions participate in the 16th bi-regional meeting of the National Influenza Centres (NIC) and Influenza surveillance in Dhaka, Bangladesh

COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected influenza related (a) sentinel surveillance, (b) laboratory diagnosis, (c) evidence-based interventions, (d) data reporting for national, regi ...

18 July 2023
News release

WHO South-East Asia Region lauds countries for routine immunization coverage scale-up, says accelerated efforts must continue
6 April 2023
Statement

WHO marks 75 years, emphasizes on Health for All
13 January 2023
News release

On polio last case anniversary, WHO calls on countries in South-East Asia to accelerate measures to also eliminate measles

Feature Stories

27 February 2023

How Myanmar achieved the 2020 milestone of reducing TB disease burden

Every year more than 10 million people fall ill from tuberculosis (TB), a bacterial infection that mainly affects the lungs. Despite being preventable and curable, TB disease claim ...

19 January 2023

How Bangladesh rapidly scaled up IPC programmes in the world’s largest refugee camp at Cox’s Bazar

Bangladesh with the support of WHO and partners scaled up infection prevention and control (IPC) programmes using targeted measures in Cox’s Bazar to 100% of health facilities by A ...

6 July 2022

WHO provides technical support to the study on investigating seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and dengue infections in Sri Lankan children

Despite high vaccination and high seroprevalence rates in many countries, outbreaks of COVID-19 continue to occur in many WHO regions resulting in significant morbidity and mortali ...

30 May 2022

WHO South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund providing critical life-saving support

New Delhi, 30 May 2022: Immediate and early response to disasters and emergencies are crucial to saving lives. The WHO’s South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF) si ...

23 March 2022

COVID-19 pandemic: testing capacities grow manifold in WHO South-East Asia Region, focus now on enhancing genome sequencing

New Delhi, 23 March 2022: Now third year into the COVID-19 pandemic, for WHO South-East Asia Region enhancing capacities of laboratories to test for SARS-CoV2 continues to be one o ...

16 August 2021

Bangladesh extends COVID-19 vaccination to Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar camps
7 May 2021

Countries across Europe send life-saving goods to help India’s fight against COVID-19
11 March 2021

Marking one year of pandemic in WHO South-East Asia Region

A year ago, when WHO declared COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, countries in WHO South-East Asia Region were either responding to their first cases of importation or cluster of cases o ...

Publications

publication banner for Emerging from the Unknowing: WHO India’s strategic response to the pandemic report
5 August 2025

Emerging from the Unknowing: WHO India’s strategic response to the pandemic

Emerging from the Unknowing chronicles WHO India's vital technical and field support to the Government of India during the COVID-19 response—an extraordinary...

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25 March 2025

Joint national/international Expanded Programme on Immunization and vaccine preventable disease surveillance...

The joint national/international Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) and vaccine-preventable disease surveillance review and post-introduction evaluation...

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19 March 2025

Regional Workshop on conversion of emergency use authorization to full marketing authorization for pandemic...

The regional workshop on Conversion of emergency use authorization to full marketing authorization for pandemic vaccines was conducted in Kathmandu,...

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11 March 2025

Regional Workshop on implementation of good reliance practices for vaccines regulation based on emerging...

The WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia had organized a four-day regional hybrid workshop on implementation of good reliance practices for vaccines...

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