COVID-19 is a stark reminder: epidemics – and pandemics – start and end in the community.
To curb disease outbreaks from the start, early detection and rapid containment are essential and require active involvement, coordination and communication across communities, and among healthcare providers and public health authorities.
Public Health Emergency Operations Centers (PHEOCs) deliver the framework to bring this all to life.
PHEOCs are designed to support communities to monitor public health events, define policies, develop standard operating procedures (SOPs), build capacity for disease surveillance and multi-sectoral response, and coordinate any large-scale emergency response. At the operational level, subnational PHEOCs and Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) are on the frontlines of epidemic preparedness and response: even where strong central PHEOCs and state-of-the-art disease surveillance systems exist, without this first line of defense at the local level, diseases are likely to go undetected until it is too late.
As documented in our latest technical brief, “Effective Health Security Starts and Ends on the Frontline of Epidemic Preparedness and Response,” PSI brings together our established relationships with government actors, our extensive private sector footprint and our ability to continuously gather consumer and system insights critical to designing effective, tailored approaches to improving health security.