Earlier detection of public health risks – Health policy lessons for better compliance with the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005): Insights from low-, mid- and high-income countries

The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) require all Member States to build and maintain the capacities to prevent, detect and respond to public health emergencies. Early detection of public health risks is one of the core functions. In order to improve surveillance and detection, a better understanding of the health system conditions and their influencing factors are needed. The Israeli Ministry of Health/IHR National Focal Point held a workshop to elucidate health system conditions and their influencing factors that enable earlier detection. The workshop methodology employed a stepwise, small working group analysis approach to elucidate the conditions and their influencing factors affecting each stage of recognition, assessment, and reporting of infectious disease outbreaks, at the local, regional and national levels. In order to detect public health risks earlier, the detection process needs to be moved closer to the local communities and start with building capacity within communities. Building capacity and engaging with local and diverse communities requires significant changes in the governance approach and include information sharing, multi-sectoral communication and coordination across various levels before, during and after public health emergencies. Across the regions, low-, mid- and high-income countries seem to struggle more with governance and information sharing rather than with technical capacities and capabilities.