Dr Gordana Kuzmanovska, Head of the Department for Communicable Diseases Control and Prevention within the Institute of Public Health (IPH) commented: “This is a step forward and a new opportunity to bring together epidemiological expertise across the country, offering digital solutions, expanding the digitalized early warning system to detect and report unusual public health events and also to manage response in a timely way”.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that timely information sharing, strategic coordination and efficient management of resources are critical elements of an effective response to public health emergencies. A functioning PHEOC plays a vital role in coordinating partners responding to public health threats and emergencies.
A new opportunity
Thirty-two participants from the IPH, Ministry of Health, regional centres for public health, the e-Health directorate and the Institute of Epidemiology attended the WHO workshop to learn from the experiences of the Robert Koch Institute in Germany, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Health Emergency Operation Centre at the Ministry of Health in Israel. They took part in discussions, guided by the WHO PHEOC framework, on planning and processes, physical infrastructure, information and communication technology infrastructure, human resources, and data analysis standards.
The National Public Health Network in North Macedonia will provide centralized coordination along with real-time information, monitoring and reporting, and national advice on how to respond to public health emergencies. “WHO considers this work to be a progressive step among all western Balkan countries, aiming at better coordination for health security and readily available public health intelligence and hopefully progressing to coordinated health emergency operations,” said Dr Jihane Tawilah, WHO Representative in North Macedonia.
The PHEOC in Skopje, was officially inaugurated in August 2020 to coordinate networked action among the 10 public health centres across the country, helping to respond efficiently to public health threats and emergencies. Future activities are planned with WHO and its partners to bring the National Public Health Network to full functionality.