Technical consultation on national cross-sectoral collaboration between security and health sectors

In October 2017, the international military and civilian health sectors came together for the first time in Jakarta, Indonesia, to agree on a shared vision for strengthening collaboration to enhance national, regional, and global health security. The participants including public health and military officials, international organizations, partners, and donors, concluded that a national framework for collaboration between civilian and military health and security sectors is necessary for effective health security governance. 

The WHO Strategic Partnership for Health Security and Emergency Preparedness (SPH) Portal brought the civilian and military health sectors together again in Hong Kong on 13-14 December 2018 to identify how to move forward in improving national capabilities for the prompt detection and response to health emergencies. The Technical Consultation on National Cross-Sectoral Collaboration between Security and Health Sectors included 51 expert participants representing 19 Member States, as well as partners, WHO and non-governmental actors. 

The participants emphasized that it is critical to ensure civil-military collaboration for preparedness, not just joint action in times of emergency. Bioterrorism was singled out as a particularly challenging problem, with specialized capacities located heavily within the military and information sharing challenges between the military and civilian health sectors.