The Sixth Universal Health and Preparedness Review #UHPR Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meeting held from 22-24 March in Geneva was a huge success. This first face-to-face meeting was an opportunity to engage in discussions and agree upon clear guidance and actionable recommendations on the development and implementation of the UHPR. 

It was evident from the meeting that the UHPR is a game-changing mechanism that will help strengthen the emergency preparedness and response capacities of Member States and make health systems more robust and more agile toward achieving Health Security and UHC.

Dr Stella Chungong, the Director of the Health Security Preparedness department, WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, applauded the TAG members, and the Co-Chairs, Dr Anne-Catherine Viso and Dr Janneth Mghamba, for their dedication, leadership, invaluable support and commitment to this vital initiative. In addition, she appreciated the TAG's continued valuable advice and recommendations to support Member States in shaping the UHPR as a game-changing mechanism.

Dr Chungong also thanked Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for his continuous support. In his closing remarks, Dr Tedros highlighted the importance of heeding the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and taking concrete steps to build back better through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to strengthen our collective capacities to build mutual trust and accountability.

Dr Mike Ryan emphasised the need for a paradigm shift in how we think about health security, including reviewing country capacities to manage health emergencies, considering communities, access to primary health care, and health systems that can surge to meet the demands imposed by health emergencies. Dr Samira Asma talked about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, through which the vulnerabilities of our health systems were highlighted. More so, given that the UHPR seeks to comprehensively assess the health system capacity of countries to effectively prepare, prevent, detect, and respond to health emergencies.

The in-person meeting allowed the TAG to engage with key Member States [Portugal, Switzerland, Iraq, Central African Republic (CAR), and Thailand] to get their perspectives and listen to experiences that build a robust foundation for the UHPR.