Mongolia continues to advance the establishment of a robust public health emergency operations center (PHEOC), achieving a significant milestone for the country’s health security. Operational PHEOCs are the cornerstone for rapid, coordinated, and evidence-based emergency response that save lives and protect communities.
Since the inauguration of Mongolia’s Ministry of Health PHEOC in February 2025, with technical guidance from WHO and support through the Pandemic Fund, Mongolia has demonstrated impressive leadership in advancing its public health emergency preparedness capacity. The PHEOC has become the hub for multisectoral coordination, risk assessment, and information sharing to enable timely responses to emerging health threats, employing an all-hazards approach.
Beyond infrastructure, PHEOCs must be functional, with trained staff, tested systems, and clear operational procedures. WHO remains committed to supporting Mongolia’s journey to build a resilient, sustainable and operational PHEOC system through capacity building, training, simulation exercise, and tailored support for national and subnational levels. In March 2025, a workshop and simulation exercise helped identify operational gaps, strengthen interagency collaboration, and reinforce the practical use of the PHEOC’s operational modes — Watch, Alert, and Response.
From 29 September to 4 October 2025, Mongolia progressed towards the third phase of strengthening its national PHEOC, which focuses on testing the PHEOC standard operating procedures and further strengthening coordination between national and subnational administrative levels. “This mission is a critical step forward in strengthening the health security infrastructure for Mongolia,” said Dr. Socorro Escalante, representative from WHO Country Office to Mongolia.“ Phase-III ensures that both the national and provincial levels are aligned. By reviewing our Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) protocols, assessing our training needs, and integrating new technology, we are building a more resilient and responsive system.”
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Participants at a Mongolia training on strengthening its public health emergency operations centre
Strengthening preparedness nationwide
As a result of these efforts, Mongolia revised and updated its National SOPs, engaged subnational health departments in developing localized SOPs, and strengthened the use of digital information management systems such as the Health Emergency Management Suite (HEMS) and the electronic Public Health Emergency Management (ePHEM) platform.
Through site visits to the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD), the National Center for Public Health (NCPH), and the National Center for Zoonotic Diseases (NCZD), WHO identified challenges in emergency response mechanisms. WHO then introduced Selenge Province’s Department of Health to PHEOC best practices, the Incident Management System and National SOPs.
“This training and simulation will directly strengthen our provincial preparedness and response capacity,” said Dr. Selenge, Head of the Public Health Center at the Selenge Province Department of Health. “We are committed to ensuring the new national SOPs capture the lessons learned from past outbreaks and create a unified SOP that coordinates effectively between the national and provincial levels.” As Selenge is one of Mongolia's major points of entry from Russia, WHO engaged with authorities at Altanbulag border to assess their screening and isolation mechanisms and review how a signal may be reported to the provincial public health center.
Looking Ahead
WHO will continue to work with Mongolia to adopt revised national SOPs, tailor SOPs for provincial levels, and enhance information management systems. Phase-IV of the project will include the establishment of emergency operation centers in all provinces, with a full-scale nationwide simulation exercise to test Mongolia’s emergency readiness, validate SOPs, and ensure seamless coordination between national and provincial response systems.
The completion of Phase-III marks another significant step toward strengthening Mongolia’s resilience to public health threats and ensuring rapid, coordinated responses to future emergencies. This work aligns with the International Health Regulation (IHR) 2005 and WHO’s goal to improve national PHEOC core capacities across the Western Pacific.