IASC, Integrated Level 3 – Infectious Disease Response Simulation - Activation Simulation Exercise, 2017

At the meeting of the IASC Principals held on 6 December 2016, the Director General of the World Health Organization reminded participants of the context and lessons from the Ebola response in 2016 and the High-Level Panel on the Global Response to Health Crisis, that had prompted the decision at the Principals Meeting held in June 2016, to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for infectious hazards. The SOPs, now endorsed, provide guidance with respect to an effective collective response in the event of future large scale outbreaks.  The SOPs ensure appropriate procedures are in place and reflect the critical link between the IASC mechanisms and WHO responsibilities under International Health Regulations (IHR).

The objectives of this exercise with respect to the SOPs were to;

1. Familiarize and validate the inter-agency procedures for determining the level of response; most appropriate leadership model at country, regional and HQ level; the clusters to be activated; the overall in-country coordination mechanism and composition of surge capacity for such events.

2. Identify challenges and lessons related to the ability to collect, share and assess relevant information of infectious disease events; to rapidly reach appropriate decisions on L3 declaration, leadership, clusters, coordination mechanism, surge capacity, resource requirements, common advocacy priorities, contingency planning for international spread and specific arrangements as applicable for the specific infectious disease and response environment.

3. Make recommendations to strengthen the activation procedures and associated SOPs, to ensure a timely and appropriate response.