User manual for the Member State Rapid Risk Assessment (MS-RRA) tool

Overview

The Member State Rapid Risk Assessment (MS-RRA) tool supports Member States in conducting systematic and timely risk assessments during acute public health events at national and subnational levels. Designed for an all-hazards approach and adaptable to national contexts, response modalities and resources, the tool supports more in-depth assessment of events requiring extensive information and multidisciplinary expertise. It enables teams to characterize risk by systematically considering the hazard, exposure and context, including response capacities, and to assess likelihood and impact, document information gaps and uncertainties, assign confidence levels, and develop event-specific recommendations to support defensible decision-making and response. This user manual provides step-by-step guidance on applying the MS-RRA tool within public health intelligence workflows. It explains when to initiate an assessment and how to complete the Worksheet and Output sheet, which can be used and adapted by Member States. Supporting annexes provide guiding questions, criteria for interpreting assessments and assigning confidence levels, comparisons with other risk assessment approaches, and an example of the tool’s application during an outbreak scenario.