BACKGROUND :

Over the past decade, Ebola, MERS, highly pathogenic avian influenza and, more recently, the Zika virus outbreaks have demonstrated the ability of epidemics to devastate communities through both extraordinary losses of life and severe morbidity as well as adverse social and economic impacts that jeopardize global health security. These recent disease outbreaks have not only made evident countries’ lack of preparedness to adequately prevent, detect and respond to epidemics, but also the extent to which measures must cut across governance levels and all sectors of society in order to truly be effective. Furthermore, only one third of countries have met their commitments under the International Health Regulations (IHR). And although several tools and frameworks have been developed (by WHO, USAID, CDC, OIE, etc.) to provide guidance for countries to develop country epidemic preparedness and response plans, these are generally disease specific, have not been updated or tested through routine exercises, remain largely underfunded and are, therefore, not fully operational. As a result, many countries remain unprepared to prevent, detect, mitigate risks and respond to health threats and disease epidemics before they cause devastating consequences in the livelihoods of communities and the economies of countries.