Country Health Emergency Preparedness and International Health Regulations, WHO Health Emergencies Program, World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, Cairo, Egypt.
Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
Front Public Health. 2024 Sep 12;12:1441223. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1441223. eCollection 2024.
The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) faces numerous public health risks caused by biological, chemical, man-made, and natural hazards. This manuscript aimed to assess the multifaceted interventions and strategies used to strengthen the EMR's preparedness capacities to respond properly to current and upcoming health emergencies.
To address these challenges, it is crucial to implement comprehensive and robust strategic risk assessments and health emergency preparedness frameworks. The World Health Organization (WHO) takes a risk-based approach, emphasizing the significance of all-hazards emergency management and the creation of national health risk profiles using the Strategic Toolkit for Assessing Risk (STAR). Furthermore, the International Health Regulations (IHR) Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (MEF) ensures continuous learning and capacity building among Member States, enhancing their ability to manage health emergencies effectively. Key components include State Party Annual Reporting (SPAR), Joint External Evaluation (JEE), After Action Review (AAR), Intra Action Review (IAR), and Simulation Exercises (SimEx). Moreover, initiatives like One Health, Emergency Care Systems, Safe Hospitals, and Public Health Emergency Operations Centers (PHEOCs) reinforce preparedness and response capacities. Risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) strategies play a pivotal role in disseminating timely information and fostering community resilience. Furthermore, the management of Chemical, Biological, and Radiological (CBRN) incidents remains a priority, necessitating collaboration between the public health and security sectors. This comprehensive approach aims to strengthen health systems, reduce risks, and improve emergency response capabilities throughout the EMR, thereby promoting global health security and resilience.
The EMR is addressing public health challenges through frameworks like IHR-MEF, and RCCE. It is strengthening emergency care systems, ensuring safe hospitals, and establishing PHEOCs. Proactive measures to address CBRN events and collaboration are enhancing resilience. The inclusion of the One Health approach underscores the EMR's holistic strategy to address the health threats at the human-animal-environment interface. This demonstrates the EMR's commitment to global health security.
东地中海区域（EMR）面临着众多由生物、化学、人为和自然危害引发的公共卫生风险。本文旨在评估为加强 EMR 应对当前和即将到来的卫生突发事件的准备能力而采取的多方面干预措施和战略。
为了应对这些挑战，实施全面和强大的战略风险评估和卫生应急准备框架至关重要。世界卫生组织（WHO）采取基于风险的方法，强调所有灾害应急管理的重要性，并使用战略风险评估工具包（STAR）制定国家卫生风险概况。此外，《国际卫生条例（IHR）监测和评估框架（MEF）》确保会员国不断学习和能力建设，提高其有效管理卫生突发事件的能力。主要内容包括缔约国年度报告（SPAR）、联合外部评估（JEE）、事后审查（AAR）、内部行动审查（IAR）和模拟演习（SimEx）。此外，“同一健康”、紧急护理系统、安全医院和公共卫生应急行动中心（PHEOC）等倡议也加强了准备和应对能力。风险沟通和社区参与（RCCE）战略在及时传播信息和培养社区恢复力方面发挥着关键作用。此外，化学、生物和放射性（CBRN）事件的管理仍然是重中之重，需要公共卫生和安全部门之间的合作。这种综合方法旨在加强整个 EMR 的卫生系统，降低风险，并提高应急响应能力，从而促进全球卫生安全和恢复力。
EMR 通过 IHR-MEF 和 RCCE 等框架应对公共卫生挑战。它正在加强紧急护理系统，确保安全医院，并建立 PHEOC。采取积极措施应对 CBRN 事件和合作，增强了恢复力。纳入“同一健康”方法突显了 EMR 应对人类-动物-环境界面健康威胁的整体战略。这表明了 EMR 对全球卫生安全的承诺。
