14 Dec 2021

The Strategic Tool for Assessing Risks (STAR) offers a comprehensive, easy-to-use toolkit and approach to enable national and subnational governments to rapidly conduct a strategic and evidence-based assessment of public health risks for planning and prioritization of health emergency preparedness and disaster risk management activities. This guidance describes the principles and methodology of STAR to enhance its adaptation and use at the national or subnational levels

Available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. You can download a summary of the main report and background documents! The report demonstrates that the current system—at both national and international levels— was not adequate to protect people from COVID-19. The time it took from the reporting of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown origin in mid-late December 2019 to a Public Health Emergency of International Concern being declared was too long. February 2020 was also a lost month when many more countries could have taken steps to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and forestall the global health, social, and economic catastrophe that continues its grip. The Panel finds that the system as it stands now is clearly unfit to prevent another novel and highly infectious pathogen, which could emerge at any time, from developing into a pandemic

A public health emergency operation center (PHEOC) serves as a hub for better coordinating the preparation, response, and recovery for public health emergencies. A functional PHEOC is critical for the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). The Framework for a Public Health Emergency Operations Centre provides high-level guidance for establishing or strengthening a PHEOC. To establish and/or strengthen a PHEOC, it is vital for Member States to align with standardized policies, guidelines, and tools

A Public Health EOC (PHEOC) serves as a hub for coordinating the preparation for, response to, and recovery from public health emergencies. The preparation includes planning, such as risk and resource mapping, development of plans and procedures, and training and exercising. The response includes all activities related to investigation, response and recovery. The PHEOC also serves as a hub for coordinating resources and information to support response actions during a public health emergency and enhances communication and collaboration among relevant stakeholders

Technical Note Recently, the approach to hazardous events has undergone a considerable shift, away from reactive activities focused on managing and responding to events and towards a more proactive process of emergency and disaster risk management (DRM). The ultimate goal of this shift in focus is to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks, a process known as disaster risk reduction (DRR), while strengthening individual, community, societal and global resilience

The Guidance Notes seek to help operationalize, simplify and standardize the collection and reporting of data through the application of common language and methods. They provide information on the key issues to take into account in the collection of health data and the types of data that should be collated, and potential stakeholders to engage with. They adapt and complement the UNDRR/UNISDR Technical guidance for monitoring and reporting on progress in achieving the global targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which has a multisectoral target audience

According to the International Science Council, the report focuses on identifying the scope of hazards that should be considered in risk reduction efforts, and provides scientifically robust and internationally agreed definitions of these hazards

Most shelters in the Caribbean are community centers, schools, or churches that are limited in size. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) distancing requirements subsequently reduced the number of persons a shelter can accommodate during the hurricane season. This document reinforces some measures to follow per international emergency shelter protocols factoring in conditions for spacing between beds/cots, recreation areas and ventilation according to The Sphere Handbook, FEMA, and Australian Red Cross. Physical distancing and hygienic standards were modified highlighting that ideal requirements are not always feasible; therefore, we may choose realistic recommendations for practical purposes and suspected cases of COVID-19

In order to assist UN country teams in scaling up country preparedness and response to COVID-19, WHO has developed these learning modules as a companion to the Operational Planning Guidelines to Support Country Preparedness and Response. This course in available in Engish, Russian and Arabic The training is intended: For UN country teams (UNCTs) For other relevant stakeholders, including partners, donors and civil society To support national readiness and preparedness for COVID-19 To help countries increase their capacity to respond to COVID-19 To increase international coordination for response and preparedness To streamline the process of coordinating resources and assessing country preparedness level This learning package consists of 3 modules with videos and downloadable presentations