Draft:Global Health Emergency Corps
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The Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC) [1] is conceived as the body of professionals in all countries who can work together on health emergencies and are connected across countries through networks fostering trusted channels for information exchange, provision of expertise and deployment of additional capacities, as and when needed. It was launched in May 2023 by the World Health Organization (WHO)[2] and its partners to enhance global health emergency preparedness and response including collaboration in case of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Background
[edit]GHEC was launched in response to the need for a scalable, interoperable, and connected workforce in every country capable of rapidly responding to health emergencies. As noted by the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response [3], the response to the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for every country to mount a fast and adaptable response supported by decisive leadership, and the need to streamline the efforts of existing networks to ensure more coordinated support to countries.
GHEC aims to establish a coordinated health emergency workforce embedded within each country, and connected through regional and global networks. This initiative will strengthen the global Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (HEPR) architecture, enhancing collaborative health emergency responses among countries and public health emergency networks.
Countries are making increasing use of this emergency corps approach, which supports countries to lead and coordinate emergency responses while benefiting from regional and global health resources [4].
Objectives
[edit]The primary objectives of GHEC are to strengthen the response to health emergencies and to stop the next pandemic.
The GHEC workforce pyramids
The GHEC workforce pyramid recommends that countries identify with a structured and consistent health emergency workforce set up, comprised of three layers:
- Emergency workforce: GHEC supports countries in building standardized health emergency workforces and ensuring that they have the capacity to detect and contain health emergencies closest to their origin.
- Surge capacities: GHEC supports countries in scaling up their responses, developing their own deployable surge capacities, and gaining access to trusted, interoperable networks of professionals who can be deployed to prevent any country or area from being overwhelmed.
- Connected leaders: GHEC provides country health emergency leaders with a platform for collaboration on regional and global responses to transnational threats, strengthening coordinated global leadership to contain or prevent the next pandemic.
Implementation and Progress of GHEC (2023 - 2024)
Since its launch in May of 2023, GHEC focused on laying a foundation for long-term impact by promoting engagement with WHO Member States and partners[5]. The initiative’s first 18 months centered on establishing GHEC as a core component of WHO’s emergency response strategy, setting the stage for coordinated action across countries.
Initial Activations of GHEC
One of GHEC’s first activations was in response to the mpox outbreak in 2024 [6]. This activation included working with the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI) to assess emergency workforce capacities in 8 countries affected by the clade 1b outbreak, identifying 22 areas needing strengthening. In parallel, working with the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), it tracked the deployment of 56 experts to affected countries, including personnel from WHO and the African Volunteers Health Corps-Strengthening & Utilizing Response Groups for Emergencies (AVoHC-SURGE), among others. GHEC connected leaders also convened to review the clade 1b outbreaks and to share best practices from the control of clade IIb in 2022.
Ongoing Initiatives of GHEC
WHO and its partners are working collaboratively with pathfinder countries to refine GHEC’s strategies, and embed them within each country’s context, ensuring that all countries understand their role within this global body and can effectively contribute to global health security by enhancing their own local and national health security.
The Adaptation of GHEC by WHO Member States
Early responses to GHEC indicate increasing recognition of its importance in filling gaps in national, regional and global health preparedness. Countries and partners have expressed interest in participating in GHEC, seeing it as valuable for improving health security through a collaborative, country-centered model.
Future Directions of GHEC
WHO and GHEC partners aim to expand the impact of GHEC as partnerships are solidified with more countries. Ensuring continued participation from all Member States, embedding GHEC within existing health systems, supporting countries to address critical expertise gaps, and securing sustainable funding remain ongoing priorities to expand its impact as a resilient global corps.
See Also
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- International Association of Public Health Institutes. Global Health Emergency Corps. October 2023. Available at: https://ianphi.org/news/2023/ghec-webinar-oct2023.html. Accessed November 5, 2024.
- World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/. Accessed November 15, 2024.
- Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic. May 2021. Available at: https://theindependentpanel.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/COVID-19-Make-it-the-Last-Pandemic_final.pdf. Accessed November 5, 2024.
- The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network. May 2023. World Health Assembly Side Event Highlights Urgent Need for Global Health Emergency Corps. May 2023. Available at: https://emphnet.net/en/resources/news/2023/world-health-assembly-side-event-highlights-urgent-need-for-global-health-emergency-corps/. Accessed November 7, 2024.
- Center for Strategic and International Studies. The CommonHealth Live! WHO Senior Advisor Dr. Scott Dowell on the Global Health Emergency Corps. Available at: https://www.csis.org/events/commonhealth-live-who-senior-advisor-dr-scott-dowell-global-health-emergency-corps. Accessed November 7, 2024.
- EPINews. WHO and partners activate Global Health Emergency Corps for the first time in response to mpox outbreak. October 2024. Available at: https://epinews.emphnet.net/en/news/topics-in-focus/who-and-partners-activate-global-health-emergency-corps-for-the-first-time-in-response-to-mpox-outbreak. Accessed November 5, 2024.