Expert consultation on health systems’ crisis preparedness
WHO
WHO/Europe organized an expert consultation to gain consensus on technical approaches towards the strengthening of health systems crisis preparedness in Member States of the WHO European Region. The technical meeting convened 30 experts.
In partnership with the European Commission Directorate-General for Health and Consumers, WHO is implementing a project to strengthen overall preparedness for public health emergencies in the European Region and to improve cross border collaboration.
As health is a major concern in all crises, disasters and emergency situations, risk reduction measures need to be promoted to reduce vulnerabilities and to prevent and mitigate the health and social consequences of disasters. National and local health authorities need to be ready and well prepared to respond to the health challenges of potential future crises and ensure that systems and adequate response and recovery mechanisms are in place, with respective capacities and resources.
The meeting aimed to build consensus on a “health systems crisis preparedness planning” reference, including the refinement of a “health systems preparedness assessment tool” used to assess country capacities to manage health crises, to agree on minimum standards and benchmarks for national health system crisis preparedness programmes, including key indicators for monitoring progress, and to discuss a standard template for lessons learnt and after action reviews.
