WHO launched the Framework for Strengthening Health Emergency Preparedness in Cities and Urban Settings on Thursday January 13, 2022 at a dedicated COVID-19 Member States Information Session. WHO hosted this meeting in line with the urban preparedness initiative that has been championed by Singapore and other Member States and it centered on how implementation of the Framework will be advanced across all WHO regions.

The session was opened by the WHO Director-General Dr Tedros, with a keynote speech from the Minister of Health of Singapore, Mr Ong Ye Kung. The newly appointed Special Envoy for the ACT-Accelerator Dr Ayoade Alakija also provided remarks at the event.

The update on urban health emergency preparedness included an introduction from Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme, a video message from Dr Takeshi Kasai, Regional Director of the WHO Western Pacific Region, and a presentation of the WHO Urban Preparedness Framework by Dr Stella Chungong, Director, Health Security Preparedness, WHO Health Emergencies Programme. The speakers covered the importance of cities to advancing national health security preparedness, and in particular the importance of engaging and working with local authorities in the context of sustainably strengthening IHR (2005) capacities. All speakers underscored the importance of building capacities for emergency preparedness at the local level including in city and urban environments

The session also featured a Member States roundtable. This was chaired by Dr Marc Ho, Acting Director, Contact Tracing and the Epidemiology Centre, Ministry of Health of Singapore. The following speakers provided an overview of lessons learned in their countries and cities in the context of urban health emergency preparedness:

• Mr Pedro Palacios, Mayor of Cuenca, Ecuador
• Mr Juhana Vartiainen, Mayor of Helsinki, Finland
• Dr Ifedayo M. O Adetifa, Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Nigeria
• Prof. Nissaf ben Alaya, General Director, National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases, Ministry of Health, Tunisia, speaking on behalf of the Minister of Health of Tunisia

During the Question and Answer session, support for WHO’s ongoing work on urban health emergency preparedness was emphasised by Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, USA, Australia, Germany, China, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, and Costa Rica.

A key outcome of this Mission Briefing was the significant support for urban preparedness from Member States. As next steps to facilitate implementation of the Framework, WHO is working with Member States and partners to develop guidance and working groups. The establishment of a global prepared cities platform, which would facilitate city-to-city sharing of experiences, best practices, lessons learned, and technical capacity for preparedness is also being further explored.

The link to the recording of the session and the Director-General’s opening remarks can be found here.

For further information, please contact SPH