All through 2015, WHO continued to respond to the public health threats from emerging diseases and outbreaks. The year witnessed efforts to detect and contain diseases such as influenza A (H1N1)pdm09, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, cholera, dengue and viral haemorrhagic fevers in some of the most challenging settings.
The pandemic and epidemic disease programme of the WHO Regional Office in the Eastern Mediterranean intensified its efforts to provide strategic, operational and technical support to countries in the Region to detect, conduct risk assessments and respond rapidly to emerging infectious diseases and to prevent international spread of these diseases.
This photo story presents the highlights of the programme’s major achievements in 2015.
The year began with completion of the assessment to determine preparedness and readiness measures of countries of the Region to prevent, detect and respond to Ebola threats. 20 out of 22 countries in the Region were assessed involving over 100 staff and consultants. The assessment was conducted in six core capacities of public health systems that were needed by all countries to detect, respond and contain rapidly an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD): leadership and coordination; public health measures at points of entry; surveillance and contact tracing; infection prevention and control; laboratory diagnosis; and risk communication. The assessment was carried out in a standardized manner using WHO assessment tools.