From 12 to 20 March, Iraq was the second country in EMRO after Libya, to conduct back to back the JEE process and NAPHS development to strengthen the country’s capacity to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to public health hazards. As with Libya, Iraq is a special context country due to the challenges of conflict, requiring extensive preparation to secure a conducive environment and engaging multisectoral stakeholders irrespective of affiliations and location. WHO has worked extensively to tailor these exercises to countries in such a context and to develop specialized guidelines to facilitate the successful planning and implementation of the JEE and NAPHS. 

“Iraq is an exceptional country, and our people have resisted resiliently against all types of conflicts and threats. Today, needs are huge to rehabilitate our health sector and rebuild what was once one of the most robust healthcare systems across the Middle East”, said proudly one of the participants.

In an engaging and dynamic environment, through insightful discussions and informative field visits, a multidisciplinary team of WHO experts worked hand in hand with the Iraqi national authorities to conduct the Joint External Evaluation. The resulting recommendations and priority actions informed the development of the Iraqi national action plan for health security to support the strengthening of Iraq’s preparedness and response capacities. The action plan brought all concerned sectors together and identified needed resources for health security capacity development.

“Although we are starting late compared to other countries, we are committed to moving things forward swiftly to establish a robust and resilient health security system in Iraq,” said Dr. Alaa’ Alwan, the Iraqi Minister of Health during the debriefing session. “A coordinated multisectoral approach is essential to help Iraq recover from the devastating consequences of the conflicts, ensuring that national development efforts will not be affected by public health threats” he added.

Dr Dalia Samhouri, Manager of Country Health Emergency Preparedness and IHR at the WHO Regional Office concluded, “The resulting action plan should be regarded as a core element in strengthening the health security capacities of Iraq. Country ownership, building trust and a shared understanding of the process, are critical in ensuring full implementation of the IHR”.

The examples of Libya and Iraq have provided WHO and other stakeholders with many best practices and lessons learned that can be capitalized on in other special context countries. The Iraq mission is a reflection of committed global health security efforts to continue the implementation of IHR worldwide.