Risk profiling and emergency planning

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IHR and Country Emergency Preparedness

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International Health Regulations

Risk profiling and emergency planning

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Our risk profiling and emergency planning programme focuses on promoting the thorough assessment and analysis of public health risks. This is vital for countries to effectively plan and prioritize risk management activities for health emergencies and disasters.

In recent years, the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region has faced various health emergencies, including humanitarian crises, floods, earthquakes, and multiple disease outbreaks such as COVID-19, cholera and measles.

Optimal preparedness and response to such emergencies requires the profiling and analysis of the risks associated with each hazard. Countries can then use evidence-based approaches to prioritize health risks and allocate resources to prevent, mitigate and control the health risks. This will enhance health security.

Collaboration across government sectors and with partners is also vital to manage public health emergencies, epidemics and pandemics effectively.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the urgent need for countries to invest in:

analysis of health risks

strengthening of whole-of-society institutional capacities to manage the health risks

risk prevention, mitigation and control activities.

It is also a reminder that countries must optimize health and social service sector resources to strengthen national emergency preparedness and response capacities. This will both reduce vulnerabilities and enhance resilience.

Under the International Health Regulations (2005), WHO supports countries to establish and maintain national capacities for surveillance and emergency preparedness and response. Health risk profiling enables evidence-based hazard profiling, prioritization and control, in line with WHO’s commitment to support effective national emergency preparedness.

A National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) is the overarching framework for national priorities that aim to enhance health security. Core priority actions in a NAPHS include regular multisectoral risk assessments and the development of a national multihazard response plan.