Web-Based Monitoring Tool for National Core Capacities as Required by WHO's International Health Regulations

The revised International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR) provides a legal framework for the global response to public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC).  With the coming into force of the IHR on June 15, 2007, under Annex 1a and Annex 2, all 194 Member States (including the United States) of the World Health Organization (WHO) have committed to develop core capacities for the early detection, investigation, and response to events with potential for international spread; report to WHO any potential PHEIC; develop a plan of action for implementing the IHR; and to assess, monitor, and evaluate progress towards achieving these capacities.  WHO is required to support the assessment of the national surveillance and response capacities, the strengthening of the national systems, the monitoring of progress on the IHR implementation, and the evaluation of outcomes.  This presentation will describe and demonstrate a prototype web-based data collection tool that has been developed for countries and WHO to provide a set of monitoring indicators and guidance tools for surveillance, response, laboratory, and points of entry respectively.  The Tool will collect data on yearly scores along ordinal scales reflecting levels of maturation on each of 33 IHR indicators for monitoring 8 national core capacities (national legislation, policy coordination, surveillance, preparedness, response, risk communication, laboratory, and human resources) for surveillance and response along 5 categories of hazards (infectious disease, zoonosis, food safety, chemical, and radio-nuclear).