Diseases are playing a significant role in the sustainability of the aquaculture industry. Greater thrust on intensification, the introduction of newer species into the farming systems, transboundary movement of aquatic animals, and trade have led to the emergence or re-emergence of diseases leading to significant loss to farming. The research on aquatic animal health management in recent years has led to the generation of a lot of information on disease diagnosis and reporting, effective vaccines and vaccination strategies, disease and AMR surveillance, quarantine, biosecurity, and alternate therapeutics besides the application of newer technologies to develop resistant varieties of fish using genome editing. Keeping the latest developments in the above areas in mind, a Symposium on ‘Aquatic Animal Diseases: Emerging Challenges and Preparedness’ is planned as a parallel event during the 14th Asian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum (14AFAF) on 13th February 2025. The event is expected to bring together the fish health experts under one umbrella to deliberate on the issues and challenges faced globally, particularly in Asia-Pacific, and provide strategic directions for greater preparedness to combat disease emergencies. The Symposium will have lead presentations by International/National experts dealing with the aspects of 1) Aquatic animal disease surveillance, 2) AMR in aquaculture, 3) Biosecurity and quarantine, 4) Developments in fish disease diagnosis and vaccines, and 5) Alternate therapeutics and strategies in fish health management. Further, the Symposium would provide a platform for the farmers and entrepreneurs associated with the aquaculture sector to deliberate with researchers and policy-makers from India and overseas on the subject