Public health emergency operations centres play critical roles in preparing for and responding to public health events and emergencies. A consultation meeting on public health EOC collaboration was held from 19 to 20 November 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting brought together 38 stakeholders from nine States Parties, seven regional and international organizations, WHO headquarters and all six WHO regional offices. Participants shared experiences, knowledge, and challenges regarding building, maintaining, using, and collaborating with emergency operations centres, and proposed solutions for improvement.
The Public Health Emergency Operations Centres Network (EOC-NET) was launched at the meeting. The meeting report describes the current situation, main roles and challenges of public health emergency operations centres, priority needs, EOC-NET objectives and next steps related to key working areas identified by participants.