The Ministry of Health in Azerbaijan with support of WHO is developing a public health risk profile, starting with a workshop aimed at identifying public health risks from all priority hazards and generating evidence for planning and implementation of emergency preparedness and readiness activities for the country.

The Baku workshop, held from 2-3 May 2019, drew participants from the Ministry of Health, Emergency Situations, Internal Affairs, Defense, Food Safety Agency and the Poison Control Centre. It was facilitated by the WHO Regional Office and Headquarters and used WHO’s Strategic Tool for Assessing Risks (STAR). 

A series of parameters such as the likelihood, health consequences, magnitude, exposure, frequency, seasonality, vulnerability, and coping capacity were used to develop the profile.

The workshop developed a data-informed ranked listing of imminent and/or recurrent risks in the country and a set of recommendations for priority actions to manage them. The government will develop an implementation strategy next to scale up health system readiness.

Other sectors participating in the workshop, such as food safety and defense, expressed interest in WHO support in adapting the STAR tool for risk assessment of their respective sectors.