Joint Assessment and Detection of Events (JADE)
20 October 2025 | Questions and answersWHO/Europe recently held a Joint Assessment and Detection of Events (JADE) exercise. What are these exercises and why are they so important during health emergencies? Find out more below.
IHR stands for International Health Regulations (2005). The IHR are the overarching legal framework that defines how countries must prevent, prepare for, report and respond to public health events and emergencies that have the potential to cross borders. This includes outbreaks of disease, but because the IHR is an all-hazards instrument, it also includes chemical, radiological and environmental events that can have significant public health impacts.
A National IHR Focal Point (NFP) is a national office or centre that communicates with WHO and other relevant sectors within the country and is often responsible for response coordination, including risk assessments. During an emergency, when the information being shared can become overwhelming, the NFP provides one clear line of communication with each country.
JADE stands for Joint Assessment and Detection of Events. These annual functional exercises aim to test and strengthen communication and coordination between NFPs and WHO’s Regional IHR Contact Point during a simulated public health emergency. Through realistic scenarios, NFPs practice core IHR (2005) functions, such as event verification, notification, information sharing and bilateral coordination with other countries.
JADE also provides a safe, controlled environment for participants to identify challenges, clarify procedures and build confidence in applying the IHR (2005) during real-life emergencies.
The 2025 edition of JADE will simulate a chemical event with related public health consequences and will focus on Annex 2 of the IHR (2005) as well as the role of NFPs. Participating NFPs will be tested on how they assess the event using the IHR (2005) decision instrument (Annex 2), communicate with WHO, share information through the Event Information Site (EIS) and Early Warning and Response System (EWRS), engage with domestic stakeholders and coordinate internationally, including potential requests for assistance through WHO and regional mechanisms.
All NFPs and relevant counterparts from IHR (2005) State Parties in the WHO European Region are invited to participate.
JADE 2025 will provide a platform for NFPs to test and strengthen communication systems with WHO and among countries through a simulated scenario. The exercise offers a unique practical training opportunity for NFPs, reinforcing their critical role in public health event detection, verification and reporting.
No travel is required for participation. Each NFP will participate from their usual place of work, whether this is their regular office, ministry of health or Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC), or wherever they would normally gather to take public health response decisions.
The exercise will unfold through a series of email “injects” simulating real-time communications and decision-making processes. Each inject will prompt participants to take actions as they would during an actual public health event, following their national policies and procedures. NFPs will use official communication tools and platforms, such as the EIS and, for European Union/European Economic Area Member States, the EWRS.
Each participating country will complete Exercise JADE 2025 over the course of a single working day, with around 5 hours of active engagement in the simulated event.