Learning from the COVID-19 response to strengthen health security and health systems resilience in the WHO South-East Asia Region

Overview

Strengthening health emergency preparedness and response has been an important health priority in the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region. Member States in the Region have made considerable progress in advancing core capacities mandated by the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) for health emergency preparedness and response. However, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that the current level of preparedness was not sufficient to effectively manage such a severe health emergency and that sustained investments in public health emergency preparedness and in resilient health systems are crucial.