Strengthening National Public Health Agencies (NPHAs)

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for stronger coordination for health emergency preparedness and response. The WHO Hub on behalf of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme is working to strengthen NPHAs for health emergency preparedness and response. 

In 2023, the WHO Health Emergencies Programme set out to strengthen countries’ ability to prevent, rapidly detect, respond to and recover from any health emergency crisis. The Programme held a consultation in 2023 with NPHA representatives from WHO Member States and experts from regional health agencies and partner organizations to identify priority areas to take forward. 

The WHO Hub in Berlin is supporting the Health Emergencies Programme in delivering on a number of these areas, including defining the core emergency preparedness and response functions, documenting NPHA governance models, facilitating peer-to-peer learning opportunities, and more.