Coordination is required to future‐proof Australia's capacity and leadership in public health genomics
Infectious diseases are an ever‐present risk to society, particularly because of globalisation and the threat of antimicrobial‐resistant organisms. Recently, a World Health Organization (WHO) team conducted a joint external evaluation of Australia's core capacities under the International Health Regulations. The evaluation gave Australia a high scorecard in all areas relevant to protecting health from emerging infectious disease threats.1 However, an area that the evaluation team highlighted for critical improvement was the integration of whole genome sequencing‐based surveillance into existing communicable diseases control systems in the Australian setting.1 While Australia scored highly for laboratory testing of priority diseases, the team recommended “integration of laboratory testing data with epidemiological data particularly in the context of whole genome sequencing”.1
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