EPHO2: Monitoring and response to health hazards and emergencies

The purpose of this essential public health operation (EPHO) is to monitor infections and other health hazards so that risks can be assessed in a timely manner, priorities can be set and emergency responses can be planned.

A recent self-assessment of public health services in 41 of the 53 countries in the WHO European Region found that:

• Most countries, especially those in the European Union, report existence of national crisis management plans and structures for reacting to emergency situations.
• These plans are better developed for expected threats (e.g. influenza) than unexpected emergencies (e.g. bioterrorism, natural disasters). Recent outbreaks suggest that even some of the richer countries may struggle with public health emergencies.

As a result, a recommendation was made to ensure laboratories and skills are updated to fulfil International Health Regulations (IHR), and to develop, evaluate and test emergency plans.

Public health emergencies and extreme events

WHO/Europe has developed a comprehensive event management system which is coordinated with the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) to manage critical information about outbreaks and other public health emergencies. It also supports countries in evaluating the capacities of their health systems to manage potential health crises.

WHO/Europe has planned a set of activities to enable countries to implement recommendations of the IHR. In addition to this, action is being taken in a number of other areas:

• assessing and strengthening the crisis preparedness of national health systems;
• supporting health ministries in institutionalizing risk reduction and crisis preparedness;
• promoting effective national policies;
• reducing vulnerability of critical health facilities;
• collecting and sharing best practices;
• building plans to mount sustained responses to a pandemic;
• preparing for emergencies triggered by climate change; and
• improving knowledge and upgrading skills.

As the lead agency for the health cluster, WHO is working closely with international partners to help local authorities and the civil society respond to the health needs of people threatened by a health crisis. The capacities of WHO and the countries in the Region are being strengthened to respond quickly to health emergencies with effective health intelligence and coordination.

Recovery from health crises

WHO/Europe supports countries in recovering from health crises. The support includes assistance in rebuilding health system capacities, establishing early warning systems for communicable diseases and natural disasters, developing national health policy frameworks and acting as technical focal point for public health programmes.