Africa's largest public health emergency simulation exercise kicks off

Representatives from 36 African countries gathered at the World Health Organization African Region headquarters in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo on Tuesday to take part in a two-day simulation exercise aimed at stepping up the continent's readiness to respond to public health emergencies.

According to WHO officials, the purpose of the exercise is to assess and improve the functionality of African countries' public health emergency management structures.

In particular, the exercise aims to test the capacities and level of readiness of the public health emergency operation centers by simulating the early detection of an Ebola outbreak in a fictitious country and its subsequent spread to multiple countries across the region through international travel and trade.

Abdou Salam Gueye, regional emergency director at the WHO Regional Office for Africa said the simulation exercise is an important tool in identifying strengths as well as areas that require improvement within such emergency structures and building an action plan accordingly.

"With more than 100 public health emergencies reported in the African region each year, the heaviest burden globally, it is critical to ensure that robust, coordinated structures are in place to respond to such threats," Gueye said.

The WHO Regional Office for Africa established a regional public health emergency operation centers network in 2015 and has continued to support countries to develop this critical component of effective health emergency management.

During a regional meeting in Zambia in July, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairperson of the African Union Commission called for the strengthening of the emergency centers since they are key to the way Africa prepares for and responds to health emergencies by collecting and producing data and evidence that can be used to respond rapidly to disease threats.

"These centers form the backbone of our early warning systems so that no outbreak will be allowed to spread and cause harm to large segments of our populations. The centers should, ideally, be operational throughout the year so that we remain in full preparedness and that our experts continue to do this life-saving work consistently," Mahamat said.

This latest simulation exercise is taking place against the backdrop of an ongoing Ebola outbreak in Uganda which has reported 142 confirmed and 22 probable cases with 56 confirmed deaths and 22 probable deaths.

According to Gueye, past Ebola epidemics as well as the COVID-19 pandemic have underscored the need to harmonize Africa's mode of operation in the face of increasingly transnational and fast-spreading public health emergencies.

"WHO, its partners and African countries will continue to work together to ensure that the region is ready to respond to future outbreaks in an effective, collaborative and cohesive manner," Gueye said.