What is a public health emergency?

A public health emergency is an event — a disease outbreak, natural disaster, industrial accident or armed conflict — that threatens population health and requires coordinated response beyond the normal capacity of affected communities or health systems. WHO classifies emergencies by grade (1-3) based on complexity, severity, affected populations and response requirements. More than 160 events require WHO response every year.

What are the International Health Regulations?

The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) are a legally binding international treaty — ratified by all 196 WHO member states — governing global health security. The IHR require member states to: develop core surveillance and response capacities; notify WHO within 24 hours of events potentially constituting a PHEIC; implement International Health Measures at ports, airports and ground crossings; and report on IHR capacity development. The IHR also govern WHO's authority to declare PHEICs and issue Temporary Recommendations.

A Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) is WHO's highest international health alert level — declared by the Director-General when a health event is extraordinary, poses an international spread risk, and potentially requires a coordinated international response. PHEICs declared: H1N1 influenza pandemic (2009); wild poliovirus resurgence (2014-ongoing); Ebola West Africa (2014-2016); Zika virus (2016); Ebola DRC (2019-2020); COVID-19 (2020-2023); mpox (2022 clade IIb; 2024 clade I). Each declaration mobilises WHO resources and triggers member state obligations.

What are IHR core capacities?

IHR 2005 requires member states to develop and maintain specific capacities: detect (surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, real-time reporting); assess (risk assessment, data analysis); notify (24-hour WHO notification of potential PHEIC events); report (ongoing situation reports); respond (public health measures, case management, infection prevention); prepare (emergency plans, exercises, stockpiles); and coordinate (multi-sector response). The Joint External Evaluation (JEE) tool assesses these capacities.

What was COVID-19's impact on global health security?

COVID-19 exposed catastrophic gaps: insufficient national surveillance capacities; WHO structural and financial constraints limiting early warning; inadequate international legal obligations for transparency; inequitable access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics; fragile health system surge capacity; and siloed human-animal-environment health surveillance. The response also demonstrated what works: rapid vaccine development (mRNA platform), international sequencing sharing (GISAID), and community-based public health measures.

What is the Pandemic Accord?

The WHO Pandemic Accord (formally the "Pandemic Agreement") is an international treaty under negotiation since 2021 — aiming to fill the gaps in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response exposed by COVID-19. Key provisions under negotiation: equitable access to pandemic countermeasures (vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics); technology transfer and licencing; pathogen access and benefit sharing (PABS); transparent and timely information sharing; health workforce resilience; One Health integration; and financing. Negotiations continued through 2024 after the May 2024 deadline was not met.

The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) is WHO's operational platform for deploying international expert teams to health emergencies — established in 2000. It comprises 250+ partner institutions (universities, public health agencies, NGOs, UN agencies) that pre-position response capacity for rapid deployment. GOARN has responded to over 100 outbreaks — including SARS, Ebola, Nipah, cholera, COVID-19 and mpox.

What is health emergency preparedness?

Health emergency preparedness encompasses: national health security legislation and policies; IHR core capacity development; national emergency operations centres; rapid response team training; simulation exercises; stockpile management (PPE, diagnostics, medicines); risk communication planning; and international response agreements. The Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and WHO's benchmarking tool provide frameworks for assessing and improving preparedness. Only approximately 33% of member states had adequate IHR core capacities before COVID-19.

What is the role of health workers in emergencies?

Health workers are the essential human resource for every health emergency response — providing clinical care, public health surveillance, community engagement and infection prevention. Yet they face disproportionate risk: in Ebola outbreaks they have accounted for 5-10% of cases; COVID-19 killed over 180,000 health workers globally. Deliberate attacks on health workers in conflict settings have dramatically increased. WHO's Health Workers Count initiative calls for safer working conditions, psychological support and equitable access to protective equipment.

How does WHO respond to health emergencies?

WHO's Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) — established after the 2014-2016 Ebola crisis — uses a three-pillar approach: Prepare (JEE assessments, capacity building, simulation exercises); Detect (event monitoring, disease surveillance, laboratory networks); and Respond (GOARN deployment, Incident Management System, field coordination, supply procurement, technical guidance). WHO coordinates but does not replace national response — it supports member states and coordinates international partners.

How does GMJ News cover health emergencies?

GMJ News covers WHO emergency situations, PHEIC declarations, IHR developments, Pandemic Accord negotiations and Georgia's health security capacity. Georgia has made progress in IHR core capacity development — directly relevant to PHIG's national public health mandate. The Georgian Medical Journal publishes research on outbreak preparedness and response in the South Caucasus context.

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Health Emergencies

GMJ News knowledge hub · last reviewed September 2026 · Georgian Medical Journal

Summary Statistics Glossary GMJ news FAQ Documents Organizations Research

Health emergencies — including disease outbreaks, pandemics and health crises from disasters and conflict — are increasing in frequency, scope and impact: WHO documented more than 160 emergencies every year from 2019 to 2023, requiring simultaneous response across dozens of countries (WHO). The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) — binding on all 196 WHO member states — provide the legal framework for global health security, with the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) as the highest alert level. COVID-19 exposed catastrophic gaps in pandemic preparedness, driving the historic push for a new Pandemic Accord at WHO.

Key messages

More than 160 emergencies per year

WHO responds to more than 160 health emergencies per year — ranging from disease outbreaks and pandemics to natural disasters, conflicts and chemical accidents. The frequency, scope and complexity of health emergencies is increasing (WHO).

IHR 2005

The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) — binding on all 196 WHO member states — provide the global legal framework for health security: mandating surveillance, notification, response capacity and border health measures for events that could constitute PHEICs.

PHEIC — the highest alert

A Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) is WHO's highest international alert level — declared when a health event requires a coordinated international response. Six PHEICs have been declared: H1N1 (2009), Polio (2014), Ebola (2014), Zika (2016), Ebola DRC (2019), COVID-19 (2020), Mpox (2022, 2024).

Pandemic Accord

COVID-19 exposed catastrophic gaps in global pandemic preparedness. The WHO-led Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) is developing a Pandemic Accord — a landmark international treaty to strengthen prevention, preparedness and response for future pandemics.

All-hazards approach

Modern health emergency management takes an all-hazards approach — building flexible systems for surveillance, risk assessment, laboratory networks, outbreak response, emergency operations and community engagement that can respond to any threat, not just known pathogens.

Health workers at the front

Health workers are the first line of response in every health emergency — yet they face disproportionate risk, lack of personal protective equipment, psychological burden, and sometimes deliberate attacks. Health worker safety is a prerequisite for emergency response.

Key statistics

160+

health emergencies/year requiring WHO response

WHO

WHO PHEICs declared (2009-2024)

WHO

196

WHO member states bound by IHR 2005

WHO

33%

of member states with sufficient IHR core capacity (2019)

WHO

of pandemic preparedness saves $50 in response

World Bank/WHO

2024

target for Pandemic Accord adoption

WHO/INB

WHO health emergencies graded by scale 2018-2023 — WHO Health Emergency Dashboard

Source: WHO. Grade 3 = highest complexity. Numbers increase with climate change, conflict and population growth.

Glossary of key terms

PHEIC
WHO/IHRPublic Health Emergency of International Concern — defined by IHR 2005 as "an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response." Declared by the WHO Director-General.

IHR 2005
WHOInternational Health Regulations (2005) — the binding international legal instrument governing global health security. Requires 196 member states to develop core public health capacities; notify WHO of events that could constitute PHEICs; and implement WHO's Temporary Recommendations during emergencies.

GOARN
WHOGlobal Outbreak Alert and Response Network — WHO's operational platform for health emergency response, deploying rapid response teams from 250+ partner organisations to outbreaks and crises globally.

Incident Management System (IMS)
WHOA standardised management structure for emergency response — providing clear command, control and coordination. WHO deploys IMS for Grade 3 emergencies, coordinating multiple response components (operations, logistics, communications, finance).

JEE
WHOJoint External Evaluation — an independent assessment of a country's health security capacities across 19 technical areas, based on IHR core capacity requirements. JEE scores guide national pandemic preparedness investment. 120+ countries have completed JEEs.

Pandemic Accord
WHO/INBA new international treaty under negotiation since 2021 — the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body aims to address gaps exposed by COVID-19 in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response: equitable vaccine access, surveillance, health workforce resilience, and One Health approaches.