With 29 atolls and five major islands spread over 181 square kilometres in the Pacific, safeguarding the health of Marshallese communities can be a difficult, complex task. But it is challenge the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is committed to tackling head on.
From the 22 to 26 September in Majuro, a team of global public health experts joined forces with RMI national authorities and partners to review and evaluate the country’s health emergency preparedness through the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) process. Developed by WHO, Member States and partners, the process was created to help countries evaluate their capacity to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease and other public health threats.
Whilst the final results of RMI’s JEE are still to be released, the global review team congratulated RMI on the way it brought health and other sectors together, and on its well-established national emergency preparedness and response system. These capacities were demonstrated in the country’s whole-of-government response to the current dengue outbreak on Ebeye and Majuro.
“Recently the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands declared a national state of emergency in response to the large dengue outbreak facing the country. Events such as this reemphasise the importance of us being prepared to respond to public health events that threaten both the lives of our people and overall functioning of our country. Through the JEE process we have been able to fully understand the status of our country’s health emergency preparedness, including areas of need. This is going to assist us in allocating future resources and planning” said the Honourable Kalani R. Kaneko, Minister of Health and Human Services.
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Events such as this reemphasise the importance of us being prepared to respond to public health events that threaten both the lives of our people and overall functioning of our country.
Hon. Kalani R. Kaneko, Minister of Health and Human Services
The JEE process not only enables countries to assess current capacities, but is also bring together national and international experts to agree upon a set of recommended actions to strengthen areas of need.
WHO’s Country Liaison Officer to RMI, Dr Eunyoung Ko, noted that this critical aspect of JEE – the development of clear recommended actions– also helps provide partners, like WHO, a clear sense of how to support the country. “ WHO is committed to supporting RMI to implement these recommendations to its able to prevent and respond to public health threats ” emphasised Dr Ko.
The JEE process involves reviewing a country’s core capacities for health emergency preparedness and response, required under the International Health Regulations (2005) or “IHR” – a legally-binding instrument signed by 196 countries. More than 100 countries around the world have now completed a JEE. In the Western Pacific Region this includes Australia, Cambodia, the Federated States of Micronesia, Japan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, New Zealand, Palau, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Viet Nam.
Across the Pacific, the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies (APSED III) and the Pacific Health Security Coordination Plan 2017-2022 (PaHSeC) guide countries and development partners to work towards strengthening national and regional capacities for health security. Under the IHR Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework, countries are asked to annually self-report on their IHR implementation, and undertake M&E activities like JEEs, simulation exercises and after-action reviews.