Speaker Series N°13 - Strengthening Emergency Preparedness and Response Capabilities for National Public Health Agencies

Session background: Co-hosted by the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence (“WHO Hub”) and the Charité Center for Global Health, the Speaker Series is a regular event series, with in-person and digital elements targeting public health communities in Berlin, Germany and globally. The series convenes multidisciplinary and cross-sector discussions around challenges and emerging opportunities in global pandemic preparedness and response that stem from the complex nature of public health emergencies.  
 
Launched in 2022, the first season of the Speaker Series was themed around “Complexity of Pandemics” and convened six sessions to unpack the complexity of pandemics from the perspectives of human, animal and planetary health, social sciences, innovative technologies, data preparedness, open source, and climate change. The second season, launched in 2024 under the theme of “Protecting the World: Moving Rapidly Together”, explored how to protect the world from future health emergencies by leveraging diversity, contextual insights, the role of research, genomic data, artificial intelligence, as well as bridging research and practice. 
 

A new season of the Speaker Series was launched in 2026, focusing on “From Insight to Impact: Transforming Public Health Intelligence”. Season 3 explores how data, insights, and innovation in public health intelligence can transform preparedness systems, strengthen decision-making, and drive impact at the country, regional, and global levels. It aims to highlight advances in surveillance capabilities, threat detection platforms, research, advanced analytics and simulations, as well as AI, data and digital foundations, all driving actionable, system-wide, and lasting transformation in pandemic and epidemic preparedness. 
 

This session: The COVID-19 pandemic and other recent health emergencies revealed significant gaps in countries’ ability to prevent, prepare for, and respond to health threats. These crises showed that systems built on trust, data, and science are essential for effective action. National Public Health Agencies (NPHAs) play a critical role in strengthening emergency preparedness and response by translating insights and intelligence into effective, equitable action, while safeguarding population health, societal resilience, and economic stability.

To strengthen collective preparedness for future emergencies, WHO, in collaboration with the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI) and other partners, led a global consultative process with over 120 countries and organizations. The process aimed to define the essential capabilities NPHAs require to lead, coordinate, and sustain health emergency functions. The resulting Framework for Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Capabilities for NPHAs reflects the collective expertise of public health leaders worldwide and provides practical guidance to strengthen NPHAs and their role for emergency preparedness and response.

Alongside the WHO guidance, this session will also showcase the IANPHI Framework for the Creation and Development of National Public Health Institutes (V2), which serves as the strategic roadmap for the structural and institutional design of these agencies. These two frameworks are intrinsically complementary. The IANPHI Framework establishes the institutional foundation by mapping the 12 Essential Public Health Functions into core, desirable, and optional roles. The WHO Framework contributes the technical granularity necessary for effective health emergency management. Together, they align institutional development with specific emergency preparedness and response capabilities, offering a coherent and unified approach for strengthening NPHAs worldwide.

This session will highlight both frameworks, featuring insights from NPHA leaders, global partners, and technical experts. Speakers will discuss how the frameworks can be adapted across diverse national and regional contexts and translated into coordinated, actionable, system-wide, and sustainable interventions to strengthen emergency preparedness and response at national, regional and global levels.
 

Participation:  Participants can join the event either in person in Berlin or online via WHO YouTube Livestream.

Due to space limitation in the event venue, on-site registration is on a first come, first served basis. You are encouraged to register for the event here at your earliest convenience.