The WHO Benchmarks for International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Capacities was first published in 2019 and serves as a capacity-building tool and reference document to guide development/updating of country health security plans, including the national action plan for health security (NAPHS). It is now updated to a second edition which incorporates lessons learned from recent health emergencies, as well as alignment with updated IHRMEF tools, the HEPR framework, the WHO Director-General’s ten proposals to build a safer world together, and to build back better through multi-hazard and whole-of-society approaches to support better preparedness for future emergencies. Over 250 relevant technical leads contributed to this edition, by providing inputs from WHO regional offices, countries, partners and participation in global consultation meetings. The second edition is titled “WHO Benchmarks for Strengthening Health Emergency Capacities: Support for the Implementation of International Health Regulations (IHR) and Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Resilience (HEPR) Capacities”. WHO benchmarks are further digitalized for easy and quick use, along with a reference library, which is currently being updated. The audience for this document includes WHO Member States, health ministries and other relevant ministries, healthstakeholders, partners, nongovernmental organizations and academia to support building capacities at the country level.

When communities face complex public health emergencies, state local, tribal, and territorial public health agencies must make difficult decisions regarding how to effectively respond. The public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) system, with its multifaceted mission to prevent, protect against, quickly respond to, and recover from public health emergencies, is inherently complex and encompasses policies, organizations, and programs. Since the events of September 11, 2001, the United States has invested billions of dollars and immeasurable amounts of human capital to develop and enhance public health emergency preparedness and infrastructure to respond to a wide range of public health threats, including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear events. Despite the investments in research and the growing body of empirical literature on a range of preparedness and response capabilities and functions, there has been no national-level, comprehensive review and grading of evidence for public health emergency preparedness and response practices comparable to those utilized in medicine and other public health fields. Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response reviews the state of the evidence on PHEPR practices and the improvements necessary to move the field forward and to strengthen the PHEPR system. This publication evaluates PHEPR evidence to understand the balance of benefits and harms of PHEPR practices, with a focus on four main areas of PHEPR: engagement with and training of community-based partners to improve the outcomes of at-risk populations after public health emergencies; activation of a public health emergency operations center; communication of public health alerts and guidance to technical audiences during a public health emergency; and implementation of quarantine to reduce the spread of contagious illness.

The Health Systems for Health Security (HSforHS) Framework guides developing capacities for International Health Regulations (IHR), and components in health systems and other sectors that work in synergy to meet the demands imposed by health emergencies. HSforHS offers an innovative and country-focused approach that builds on the lessons learned from recent health emergencies, including the COVID-19 Pandemic. The HSforHS Framework complements existing concepts and tools that support capacity-building for global health security. The HSforHS Framework is structured to: Support stakeholders to better understand what Health Systems for Health Security entails, Delineate the essential components of health systems and other sectors that play an important role in health security, Explain how countries can define, prioritize and monitor the actions and investments in health security, health systems and other sectors that can support multisectoral and multidisciplinary management of health emergencies, Help partners and donors better support countries in strengthening their health security capacities, and Highlight challenges related to the implementation of the HSforHS Framework.

This guidance document aims to support leaders, policy-makers and decision makers in both national and local authorities, who work on strengthening health emergency preparedness in cities and urban settings. Building on the key aspects that authorities should consider it proposes possible actions and approaches, that when adapted to different local contexts, will contribute to enhanced prevention, preparedness, and readiness for health emergencies in cities and urban settings for a robust response and eventual recovery. It supplements other existing WHO guidance and tools on urban preparedness, in particular the WHO Framework for Strengthening health emergency preparedness in cities and urban settings.

To ensure effective civil-military health collaboration that supports health emergency preparedness interventions required to combat existing or potential threats, and for longer-term health security capacity-building, it is critical to identify pathways for partnership well before a response to a health emergencies is required. To this end, WHO together with Member States and partners developed the National civil-military health collaboration framework for strengthening health emergency preparedness. The aim of this framework is to provide the public health sector and military actors and services at the national level with guidance for establishing, advancing, and maintaining collaboration and coordination, with the focus on country core capacities required to effectively prevent, detect, respond to, recover from and build back better after health emergencies.

This roadmap is a statement of a collective vision to develop a shared understanding on the definition, classification and scope of work of the workforce which delivers the EPHFs, and the subsequent collaborative activities to build capacity of this workforce through competency-based education. The roadmap is developed with, and for, countries including key stakeholders such as associations of national public health institutes and schools of public health and proposes a differentiated and progressive approach for countries acknowledging varying capacities and contexts. Across the action areas, this will aid countries to benchmark themselves and assess their current situation; facilitate provision of guidance and tools; and support progress to full implementation towards a strengthened public health workforce delivering all EPHFs for UHC, health security and improved health and wellbeing. TARGET AUDIENCE: Policy-makers, health workers and key stakeholders within and outside the health sector involved in public health and emergency preparedness and response.