Despite wide recognition of the importance of coordination among national stakeholders from multiple sectors and disciplines for strengthening and implementing IHR (2005) and health security, coordination remains a challenge for many countries. In this context, WHO convened an expert roundtable in October on developing multisectoral partnership coordination.

The meeting was hosted by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) from 4th to 5th October in Paris, France. The objective was to identify best practices, case studies and models to coordinate multisectoral partnerships coordination for preparedness and global health security at the national level.

Thirty-seven participants from Member States, partners, donors, non-state actors, international organizations and financial institutions reviewed the WHO draft guide for multisectoral partnership coordination for IHR (2005) and health security. Introductory presentations covered topics such as health security financing, the tripartite collaboration of WHO, OIE and FAO, public-private partnerships, the IHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and the WHO Strategic Partnership for IHR (2005) and Health Security (SPH).

SPH has been working with partners to develop globally-recognized approaches and tools to strengthen multisectoral partnership for public health preparedness. SPH promotes national cross-sectorial coordination, such as between the civilian and military health sectors and through leveraging synergies between influenza pandemic preparedness and health security planning. Multisectoral partnership coordination strengthens country ownership and accountability, supports improved stewardship of resources and fosters organizational effectiveness and sustainability for country health emergency preparedness.

Panel discussions at the roundtable concluded that the WHO-OIE-FAO tripartite collaboration should form a key pillar for multisectoral coordination for preparedness and emphasized the necessity to engage all relevant government sectors as well as non-state actors such as academia and business. Working group discussions generated input on key approaches and opportunities for establishing and maintaining multisectoral coordination at the country level.

Importantly, the expert roundtable provided specific feedback on the WHO draft guide and proposed a roadmap for implementing the guide. The coordination of national priorities and sustainable financial resources, as well as technical investments from all sectors were highlighted as being critical factors in delivering health security in a fully multisectoral effort.

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