Following recommendations from the IHR Review Committee on Second Extensions for Establishing National Public Health Capacities and on IHR Implementation, WHO held a series of global consultations with Member States between 2015 and 2018 in order to review and update the IHR State Party Self-Assessment Annual Reporting tool (SPAR).

In June 2018, the new SPAR tool was officially launched to support IHR States Parties fulfil their obligation under Article 54 and resolution A61.2 to report on the status of national core capacities to the World Health Assembly (WHA). A Guidance document for SPAR is available here including the summary of the main changes that the new SPAR tool reflects.

The SPAR will continue to collect data using 24 indicators across 13 capacities. The process promotes the dynamic multi-sectoral process of monitoring, evaluation and planning within the country. Importantly, it also serves to demonstrate the responsibility and commitment to the implementation of the IHR by Member States towards global health security.

WHO Regional Offices providing orientation to IHR NFPs on the changes in the tool and the use of the online eSPAR. EURO held a series of WebEx meetings over the past few months and AFRO and EMRO are organizing specific face to face meetings in November and December.

SPAR data and WHO’s GPW 13

SPAR data collected for 2018 is critical for the work being done to implement the WHO Global Program of Work (GPW13) and its aim for a “population better prepared for emergencies.” The baseline score of IHR capacities reported by States Parties in 2018 using this SPAR tool will be used for this purpose.

e-SPAR – online annual reporting

In order better facilitate the collation, extraction and dissemination of data, the WHO Secretariat is developing a new e-SPAR Tool that will allow State Parties to answer the SPAR questionnaire online and receive rapid feedback. The e-SPAR will be launched early 2019 and will serve as a repository of information and allow countries to review their answers and generate country and regional profiles.