Updates February 2019-2020

Medical countermeasures and personnel deployment

European partner institutions such as the Robert Koch Institute and Public Health England were deployed in 2019 through the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) to assist in emergencies such as the measles outbreak in the Pacific Islands and the health needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

In collaboration with RKI in Germany and the Rospotrebnadzor in the Russian Federation, WHO/Europe developed classification criteria for GOARN rapid-response mobile laboratories to support the international response to outbreaks both within and beyond the Region.

The European regional group for the Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) initiative was chaired by the Russian Federation in 2019, following the adoption of a new regional governance structure. In 2019 alone, 4 classified European EMTs were deployed to respond to Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, 2 to the measles response in Samoa and 1 to the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.