Event highlights
8 October 2024
The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on the development of the strategy and action plan on health emergency preparedness, response, and resilience in the WHO European Region (Preparedness 2.0) gathered virtually for its seventh meeting on 30 September 2024.
This information session provided the TAG with an update on the final draft strategy and action plan following the written consultation of Member States of the WHO European Region, which was carried out over the summer.
“The final draft of the strategy and action plan is now the version that will be proposed to Member States for consideration and adoption during the Regional Committee, alongside the implementation support guide. We trust these products will meet expectations from the Technical Advisory Group and Member States, and hope that it will result in a tangible impact on populations of the Region in the next 5 years,” said Dr Gundo Weiler, acting Regional Emergency Director.
TAG members had the opportunity to reflect on the final Preparedness 2.0 package, which includes the implementation support guide, among other elements still under development, which will accompany the strategy and action plan.
“We chose very early on to apply the Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Resilience [HEPR] approach to organize the strategic action plan of Preparedness 2.0. It should hopefully help countries to prioritize and implement suggested actions,” said Dr Gail Carson, Preparedness 2.0 TAG Chair.
As the engagement of the TAG is coming to an end, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, expressed his thanks to the group for their commitment in this process. “Your expertise and engagement have been crucial [for us] to be where we are now,” he said. “This document is ambitious, concrete and innovative, while being aligned with other global processes. I wanted an ambitious strategy and action plan, but at the same time quite pragmatic, and this is the first document where the 5 HEPR subsystems are adapted to be applied regionally and nationally.”
The 5 HEPR subsystems are collaborative surveillance, community resilience and protection, safe and scalable care, access to countermeasures, and emergency coordination.
The next steps notably include consideration by Member States of the updated strategy and action plan during a dedicated session of the 74th session of the Regional Committee for Europe (scheduled on 31 October).
Event notice
30 September 2024
The seventh meeting of the Preparedness 2.0 Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will be an information session to present the final draft of the working document, which will become the Strategy and Action Plan (Preparedness 2.0). Other updates to be shared include recent developments on the adoption of the package of amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) and the resumed work of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body on the WHO Pandemic Agreement, as well as the way these processes will interact with Preparedness 2.0.
The finalization of the current draft of the working document has relied on additional contributions from Member States from the WHO European Region and regional stakeholders, who were respectively given the opportunity to provide written comments on Preparedness 2.0 and to share relevant resources, tools and guidance to include in the Preparedness 2.0 information document (i.e. implementation support guide).
The expected outcome is the presentation of the final version of the Preparedness 2.0 Strategy and Action Plan and of the recent developments to global health security architecture.