WAHO Participates in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Seattle Workshop on Emergency Operations Centers
The West African Health Organization (WAHO) has participated in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Seattle Workshop on Emergency Operations Centers which was held in Seattle, USA from September 16 to 19, 2019.
The Workshop was hosted by the BMGF and WAHO was represented by the Executive Officer to the Director General, Mrs. Yvonne Carver and the Incident Manager of the Regional Center for Surveillance and Disease Control, Dr. Sedjro Catraye.
At the peak of the Ebola Virus in West Africa in 2014, the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention, (US CDC), together with decision-makers in the ECOWAS countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, identified the need for public health emergency management systems and emergency operation centers (EOC) to coordinate disease response activities; more specifically the Ebola Virus.
The purpose of the EOCs was to serve as effective command centers that would bring all coordinated response functions together in one location.
With the unquestionable importance of EOCs in mind, the main objective of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Seattle Workshop on Emergency Operations was to take stock and share best practices (and lessons learned) in establishing Emergency Operation Centers globally.
WAHO [and RCSDC] contributed to a panel discussion on the role of regional platforms under the theme: Value proposition and experience sharing from existing regional platforms.
Other regional platforms who were present as panelist included Africa CDC and ADPC.
The main objectives were set for the session. These were:
- Align participants on expectations from, and scope of activity of, a regional platform serving PHEOCs
- Discover the vision of leaders from existing regional platforms (WAHO, RCSDC, Africa CDC and ADPC) and gather their feedback on what is feasible / what works well based on their experience
- Define a roadmap for the implementation of fledgling regional platforms / future platforms.
