The first SEAR NFP+, a regional network of International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Points (NFPs) and other IHR core capacity experts, was agreed to at the “ Regional Workshop of IHR national Focal Points in the WHO South-East Asia Region”, held on 25-29 March in New Delhi. This is one of several achievements of the Workshop, which was held to further enhance implementation of the IHR (2005) and ensure continuous capacity building of NFPs.
The workshop brought together IHR National Focal Points, Risk Communication/Community Engagement Focal Points and focal points for Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework (PIP) from all Eleven Member States of the Region.
The workshop explored linkages among a wide range of areas: the IHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (MEF) and development of National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS); Risk Communication; NFP Function and Communication; the PIP Framework, and the scope of a NFP network. A poster session enabled further sharing of experiences.
Looking forward, NFPs suggested that the top priorities of focus for the next 12 months should be:
- Risk Communication,
- Points of Entry (PoE),
- NFP Capacity Building,
- IHR Implementation, and
- Development of NAPHS and multi-sectoral collaboration.
The key outcomes of this workshop are:
- Agreement on the establishment of a Regional Network of NFP+ and a regional repository
- Agreement of Member States on the Regional 5-year Plan to strengthen Public Health Preparedness and Response
- Agreement of Member States on the 5-year Regional Risk Communication Strategy and priorities for capacity strengthening
- Commitment of Member States to implement the PIP Framework and the Global Influenza Strategy