North Macedonia has become the first country in the Western Balkans to officially adopt a national action plan for health security (NAPHS), ensuring that the country’s health system can protect its people from disease threats. This milestone achievement will help advance health security in the country by engaging partners, providing resources, and building capacities for the implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), the global framework for the coordination of the management of public health emergencies. 

This plan was developed by national and international experts and representatives of different ministries and departments. WHO provided continuous direct technical support and the European Union supported it with financial assistance. In a collaborative multisectoral effort, more than 40 key stakeholders from various sectors came together to support the development of the plan and use the NAPHS approach, which is critical for addressing priority activities to strengthen national health security capacities. 

"The adoption of this plan is an important step forward in strengthening our commitment to protect the health and well-being of our citizens," said Dr Ilir Demiri, Minister of Health of North Macedonia, in his address to a launch event convened in Skopje on 27 March 2024, where the NAPHS was officially presented to key stakeholders, partners and media, and next steps to support its implementation were discussed.

"It makes us proud to lead the efforts to adopt the NAPHS approach in the region," he added. "We are grateful for the dedication and hard work of our team at the Ministry of Health and all colleagues from around the world, from all sectors, as well as to the WHO for its unwavering support of a better prepared and resilient health system for our country in the future."

The WHO NAPHS is a prioritized costed plan to improve countries’ health security, providing a roadmap for strengthening their systems, so they can prevent and respond to health emergencies. Tools such as the NAPHS help countries assess their capabilities and focus on critical activities to make health security a whole-of-society priority, detailing important steps to take to ensure health security for citizens and communities. 

In his video message to launch event participants, Dr Gundo A. Weiler, Director of Country Support and Partnerships, and simultaneously Acting Regional Emergency Director for WHO/Europe, congratulated the Government of North Macedonia and its health authorities for their leadership and resolute commitment to strengthening national capacities in health emergency prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. “Through the development and implementation of the NAPHS, North Macedonia has opened the window of opportunity to build back better by strengthening IHR core capacities and investing in its health system for health security,” he stressed. “This will help to keep communities healthy, the country ready, and the world safe.”

Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and other health emergencies have highlighted the need for countries to continuously develop, strengthen and maintain their capacities under the IHR. The NAPHS plan will work to address identified gaps, not only improving national health security but also safeguarding travel and trade, and helping to protect economic and social development. 

Participants at the launch event stressed the need for the NAPHS to be seamlessly integrated into national health sector planning to ensure sufficient resources are invested into its implementation. Where resource gaps remain, the NAPHS will facilitate domestic coordination among different sectors and collaboration with international technical and financial partners to reduce duplication and maximize efficiencies.

What is the NAPHS? 

The NAPHS is a country-owned, multi-year, planning process that can accelerate the implementation of IHR core capacities, and is based on a One health for all-hazards, whole-of-government approach. It captures national priorities for health security, brings sectors together, identifies partners, and allocates resources for health security capacity development. Since 2016, WHO has been working closely with many countries and its partners to support the development of NAPHS. 

The WHO secretariat developed the NAPHS framework to consolidate technical guidance to countries for the development and implementation of NAPHS, capturing feedback from countries, regions and partners. It provides guidance to identify evidence-based priority actions that can be implemented quickly to have immediate impact as well as long-term actions for sustainable capacity development to improve health security.

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