Bird Flu Hasn’t Gone Away
The World Health Organization (WHO) surveils emerging outbreaks of infectious diseases, supporting member states and mobilizing international response teams. A key unit within the WHO is the Global Alert and Response program (GAR).
GAR’s core functions are to
- Support Member States for the implementation of national capacities for epidemic preparedness and response in the context of the IHR(2005), including laboratory capacities and early warning alert and response systems;
- Support national and international training programmes for epidemic preparedness and response;
- Coordinate and support Member States for pandemic and seasonal influenza preparedness and response;
- Develop standardized approaches for readiness and response to major epidemic-prone diseases (e.g. meningitis, yellow fever, plague);
- Strengthen biosafety, biosecurity and readiness for outbreaks of dangerous and emerging pathogens outbreaks (e.g. SARS, viral haemorrhagic fevers); Maintain and further develop a global operational platform to support outbreak response and support regional offices in implementation at regional level.[1]
WHO logo
The GAR has a unit called the SHOC, or Strategic Health Operations Centre, which monitors and responds immediately to outbreaks among member states, such as the 2002-2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.
The number of SARS infections over 7 months in 2003
Below are two movies that illustrate their work. “Global Alert Response”is just over 5 minutes long, and the SHOC (Centre for Strategic Health Operations) is under a minute.
I found the films fascinating for two reasons. One was the information contained in the movies, which describes what WHO does about emerging infectious disease, the other was their old-fashioned feel. I couldn’t put my hand on it, but they felt like movies made in the 1950s or 1960s.
