The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched a Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC) strategy, outlining a shared vision to build an emergency-ready and resilient health workforce in every country by 2030.
Key Objectives of the Strategy
The strategy aims to translate global commitments under the International Health Regulations (IHR) and the Pandemic Agreement into practical national capacities. It focuses on strengthening emergency health workforces and improving coordination, interoperability, and surge response mechanisms. A clear benchmark has been set: ensuring that 10 percent of the health workforce in every country is organized, trained, exercised, and connected to respond to emergencies by 2030.
Launch Event at the World Health Assembly
The launch took place on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly, co-hosted by Ethiopia, Germany, and Brazil, with support from the Gates Foundation and the Institute of Philanthropy. Global leaders, member states, and partners highlighted the urgent need to invest in health emergency preparedness and strengthen coordination across countries and regions, given the increasingly complex nature of health emergencies.
In a keynote address, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr. Hanan Balkhy, emphasized that preparedness must become a sustained national capability rather than a reactive effort mobilized during crises. She noted that health emergencies do not respect borders and that preparedness cannot depend on last-minute mobilization. It requires trusted leadership, nationally owned systems, coordinated workforces, and collaboration that moves faster than crises themselves. Dr. Balkhy stated that the strategy offers countries a practical pathway to strengthen readiness by building nationally organized emergency workforces connected across borders through solidarity, shared expertise, and coordinated action.
Global Preparedness Monitoring Board Report
Meanwhile, a new report by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) has warned that the world is on the edge of even greater pandemic damage, as pandemics continue to rise faster than global investments in preparedness. The board stated that this trend could worsen unless three priority actions identified for governments and international partners are urgently implemented. These include establishing a permanent, independent monitoring system for pandemic risk; advancing equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments through a pandemic agreement; and securing sustainable financing for preparedness and emergency response.
The report, titled 'A World on the Edge: Priorities for a Pandemic-Resilient Future,' was released yesterday in Geneva and issued under the co-convenorship of the WHO and the World Bank Group, ahead of the 79th World Health Assembly.
