World Health Organization · 2026
Practical heat-health risk management package for organising and delivering care at mass gathering events.
- Issuer
- World Health Organization
- Edition
- 2026
- Audience
- Event organisers, public health authorities, emergency medical services, clinicians
- Reviewed
- 17 Oct 2026 · GMJ
What this guideline says
GMJ summary
This WHO document provides a practical framework for preventing and managing heat-related illness during mass gatherings. The manual explains the evidence base, principles and framework for heat-health risk management, and is accompanied by a separate Risk Assessment Tool.
The document addresses both the ‘why’ and the ‘what’ of heat-health risk management, offering organisers and health professionals a structured approach to identifying, assessing and mitigating heat-related health risks at large-scale events.
Key points
For clinicians — doses and thresholds as stated in the guideline
- The document provides a framework for heat-health risk management specifically designed for mass gathering contexts
- Accompanies a separate Risk Assessment Tool accessible online for practical implementation
- Addresses evidence base and principles underlying heat-health risk management
- Intended for use by event organisers, public health authorities and clinicians involved in mass gathering planning
- Covers both preventive measures and clinical management strategies for heat-related illness
Editor’s perspective
Why this matters for Georgia and the region
Prof. Giorgi Pkhakadze, MD, MPH, PhD
Editor-in-Chief, Georgian Medical Journal · Chair, Public Health Institute of Georgia · WHO consultant, health and migration
As Georgia experiences increasingly hot summers and hosts significant mass gatherings—from Tbilisoba to major sporting events and religious pilgrimages—this WHO framework arrives at a critical time. I would urge Georgian event organisers and municipal health authorities to integrate systematic heat-health risk assessment into event licensing procedures, particularly for summer outdoor gatherings in Tbilisi, Batumi and the lowland regions where temperatures regularly exceed 35°C. The main implementation challenge will be ensuring that emergency medical services at events have adequate cooling facilities, hydration supplies and trained personnel to recognise and treat heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which currently receive limited attention in our pre-hospital care protocols. The Risk Assessment Tool should be piloted at several large events in 2025 to develop Georgia-specific thresholds and response protocols.
ORCID 0000-0001-7609-4515 · Perspective written for the GMJ Guidelines Library, 17 Oct 2026
Applicability
Georgia and the South Caucasus
Georgia hosts numerous mass gatherings including religious pilgrimages, sporting events and cultural festivals, particularly during hot summer months in lowland regions. National and municipal public health authorities should integrate this framework into event licensing procedures, and emergency medical services should adapt the risk assessment tool to local climate patterns and healthcare infrastructure. Given Georgia’s variable topography—from sea-level Black Sea coast to high-altitude regions—heat-health risk profiles will differ substantially by location and season, requiring site-specific assessment.
Questions this guideline answers
Quick answers
What is a mass gathering in the context of heat-health risk?
A mass gathering is a large-scale event where the concentration of people may strain local healthcare resources and where environmental heat exposure poses collective health risks requiring specific planning and management strategies.
Who should use this risk assessment tool?
Event organisers, local public health authorities, emergency medical service providers, and clinicians responsible for planning and delivering healthcare at mass gatherings in hot weather conditions.
What does the risk assessment tool evaluate?
The tool (available separately online) provides a structured approach to assessing heat-related health risks, though specific assessment criteria are detailed in the tool itself rather than this explanatory document.
How does this differ from general heat-health guidance?
This guidance is specifically tailored to mass gathering contexts where large numbers of people congregate in defined locations, requiring coordinated planning, on-site medical facilities and real-time risk monitoring beyond routine community heat-health responses.
Related on GMJ
Interconnected resources
Dictionary of Public Health
GMJ News coverage
Quality & accreditation
Other guidelines on this topic
- Recommendations for the Management of Major Obstetric Emergencies
- Resilient Hospitals: An inter-regional guidance on strengthening resilience to health emergencies and disasters in health facilities
- EVAC-H: Evacuation of hospitals and their critical areas
- Water and Sanitation Technologies for Health-care Facilities: Selecting Options for Adoption and Scale-up in the Western Pacific Region
- Water and Sanitation Technologies for Health-care Facilities: Current Status and Context in the Western Pacific Region
- Issuer
- World Health Organization
- Type
- Manual
- Status
- Current
- Published
- 2026-09-30
- Scope
- Heat-health risk management at mass gatherings
- Audience
- Event organisers, public health authorities, emergency medical services, clinicians
- Record history
- Created 17 Oct 2026 · updated 17 Oct 2026 · next check Apr 2027
World Health Organization. Prevention and management of heat-related illness at mass gatherings: risk assessment tool. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2026.GMJ Guidelines Library records are original summaries written by the GMJ editorial team from the issuer’s published document and reviewed by a physician. They do not replace the full guideline. The document is the copyright of its issuer and is linked, not hosted. Spotted an error or a newer edition? Tell the Guidelines Desk.
Was this article helpful?
