On 27-28 January 2021, WHO Regional Office for Europe and the Ukraine WHO Country
Office supported the Ministry of Health and the Ukrainian Public Health Centre to conduct a
Country Intra Action Review (IAR) for the COVID-19 response in Ukraine. The IAR allowed
to review the national functional capacity of the public health and emergency response
systems and to identify practical areas for immediate remediation or
continuous improvement of the current response to the COVID 19 outbreak.
During the review, over 130 participants from multisectoral teams took part in 7 groups
centered around the pillars of the response, including country-level coordination, risk
communication and community engagement, points of entry, national laboratories, infection
prevention and control and operation support and logistics. The format of the IAR was a mix
of in person and virtual collaboration to adjust to COVID-19 prevention measures in place.
The main goal of the IAR was to support the country in reviewing the actions implemented in
all the critical response areas over the past year at the national and regional levels. WHO
Regional Office for Europe provided guidance on the organization of an IAR according to
WHO recommendations, and helped to run and facilitate the review sessions.
The IAR will provide practical recommendations and action points identified by the
participants for sustained improvement of the ongoing COVID 19 response and updating
the Ukrainian Country Preparedness and Response Plan accordingly.