International organisations agree on the importance of surveillance, but not on its definition

The global health impacts of pathogen spillovers, from outbreaks to epidemics and pandemics, have accelerated in the 20th and 21st centuries.1 In response, multilateral, global organisations, including WHO, coordinate to develop pandemic prevention and response strategies.2 Surveillance is at the core of any pandemic prevention or response approach, needed to capture pathogen emergence, monitor spread, and use mitigation strategies.3,4 However, whether key global entities share a common understanding of what and how surveillance occurs remains unclear.