Develop a health sector risk communication strategy that includes dedicated staff, sustained budget and contingency budget for emergency materials development; coordinated plans to address all public audiences through preferred/trusted channels with consistent messaging; connection with EOC structure as an activated Joint Information Centre that monitors and evaluates its response; surge capacity for emergencies; and a strengthened hotline, website, and social media for emergencies and non-emergencies

Create a risk communication response unit within the MoPH that echoes the above strategy and includes dedicated full-time staff with education and experience in risk communication, programme evaluation and health communication/education; ongoing competency based training programme; temporary surge staff from other communication units, universities and external partners to be activated to the Joint Information Centre during emergencies.

Test risk communication response through health sector and national emergency exercises.

Map Qatar’s target audiences including the nearly 70% of non-native population with existing community engagement capacities. Following this mapping process, continue to address public communication and community engagement measures to identify population segments that lack access to health information due to language, literacy, work/life circumstances, etc.; conduct audience analysis research to ensure audiences are receiving information in ways that allow them to make informed decisions and take action; address systematic gaps by using best practices from other or new health information programmes /campaigns.

Strengthen Qatar’s community engagement outreach efforts by training field epidemiologists on community engagement processes; partnering with a local university to conduct audience research; providing a certificate programme for community engagement volunteers for emergencies.

Sending and receiving medical countermeasures during public health emergencies • Create an inventory and map of countermeasure resources locally, regionally, and internationally for the country’s access in times of need. • Develop national health policies/guidelines/SOPs to govern the countermeasure management system, such as memoranda of understanding, especially with external partners. • Establish a national stockpile for health to include countermeasures for IHR-related hazards like CBRN. • Establish integrated stockpiling of CBRN-related logistics among health sector members. • Develop policy/ guidelines for the management and utilization of a CBRN-related stockpile. • Develop a formal policy on the management of foreign donations.

Sending and receiving health personnel during public health emergencies • Develop a national deployment policy and plan regarding sending local and receiving foreign teams for humanitarian response during public health emergencies of national and international concern. • Organize an integrated, trained and equipped multidisciplinary national response team (contingent team) for national, external or international deployment purposes. • Strengthen partnerships with the WHO Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network and other foreign or international humanitarian response organizations. • MOPH should take the lead in coordination, collaboration, network building and interoperability with local and international partners and systems especially in the area of health-related CBRN management.

Capacity to activate emergency operations • MoPH shall initiate and promote the institutionalization of EOCs with policy, guidelines, protocols, trained human resources, dedicated facilities, organized EOC staff/response teams, information and communication systems, technologies, lifelines, as well as resources including financial to support operations. • Recruit additional trained staff. • Establish and strengthen the integrated information management system. • Improve coordination and information sharing between health sectors and other sectors.

Capacity to activate and operationalize EOC • Improve coordination and information sharing between health sector and others such as the animal health sector • Review EOC personnel complementarity and hire additional trained staff if necessary. • Strengthen the information management system.

Emergency Operations Programme • Develop training programmes for EOC staff, responders and managers to enhance their capacities in handling data and information, immediate response to emergencies, and managing disaster risks. • Enhance the capacity of staff in managing exercises and optimizing lessons for updating and strengthening the Response Plan.

Case management procedures for IHR-relevant hazards • Develop a CBRN programme with policy, structure, facility development, human resources, technology, standard case management procedures and other support to operations. • Train appropriate staff and improve resources for management of IHR-related emergencies. • Improve coordination and sharing of best practices and information between the health and other sectors. • Enhance the Response Plan in its surge capacity management.

Plan review and updating • the plans should be reviewed and updated taking into account current changes such as the terminologies; the new brands of organizations; the organizational restructuring, new leadership, new systems, and its compliance to IHR 2005 core capacities development.

Plan advocacy • Advocate the EPR plan and National Health Emergency Management Plan or Public Health Emergency Management Plan to leaders, especially new ones, to gain their approval, as well as their signature to legitimize their operationalization and implementation. • The MoPH should take the lead in advocating and supporting the development, signing, approving, testing and regular updating of the organizational plans, integrating strategies, activities and their roles in managing public health emergencies of national and/or international concern. • The MoPH should also take the lead in conducting sectoral drills to heighten awareness across the health sector of the need to develop a National Public Health Emergency Management Plan, or integrate this Plan in their organizational plans; to test the functioning of sectoral plans and the interoperability of systems; and to optimize the results of the post-drill/exercise evaluations for updating the Plan.

Implement the National Logistics Management System • Establish and regularly monitor stockpiles based on updates from risk assessments, experience from actual emergency response operations, and the needs of end-users. • Create an inventory of CBRN-related stockpiles and develop guidelines for their use and mobilization.

More inclusive health sector network • Include the private sector with delegated tasks, clear roles, and functions in emergency and disaster management. • Explore the possibility of providing technical assistance to the private sector based on their capacitybuilding needs in the field of public health emergency management (training, drills, logistical support, etc.) • Improve coordination.

Policy development • Develop IHR legislation. • Encourage joint (cross-sectoral) emergency planning/testing.

Endorse the national contingency plan and ensure integration of sector-specific emergency preparedness and response plans.

Ensure access to national and sector-specific plans and joint assessment protocols by all concerned personnel at the different levels of seniority.

Enhance peer-to-peer and senior-to-subordinate knowledge transfer to ensure institutional capacitybuilding.

Operationalize plans at different administrative levels to ensure their functionality, when needed.

Put in place a mechanism to facilitate sharing of feedback on conducted training at the different levels.

Provide joint training for public health and security personnel at all levels on the SOPs, and on joint training exercises, drills and investigations and responses.