Wednesday, 23 September 2026, 13:00–14:00 (CEST)
Background
Health emergencies—including disease outbreaks, pandemics, climate-related events, humanitarian crises, and natural disasters—are increasing in frequency and complexity. As the first point of contact for most populations, primary health care (PHC) plays a critical role in engaging communities, detecting health threats early, protecting communities and health workers, maintaining essential health services, and supporting rapid emergency response.
Despite its central role, PHC is often insufficiently prepared and not systematically integrated into emergency preparedness and response planning. Lessons from disease outbreaks such as COVID-19, Mpox, Ebola, and other public health emergencies including floods and drought have highlighted gaps in surveillance, continuity of essential health services, infection prevention and control, and community engagement at the primary care level.
To address these challenges, WHO and Resolve to Save Lives developed the Emergency Ready Primary Health Care (ERPHC) Framework and Operational Guide, launched during the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly in May 2026. The ERPHC approach strengthens PHC systems to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from health emergencies through four interconnected capacities:
- Connect – community engagement, trust, and risk communication
- Detect – surveillance and early warning at community and facility levels
- Protect – infection prevention and control and safe service delivery
- Treat – continuity of essential health services and emergency care
By embedding these capacities into PHC systems, countries can strengthen community protection, health security, and resilience while minimizing the health, social, and economic impacts of emergencies.
Objectives
- Introduce the ERPHC Framework and Operational Guide to global, regional, and country stakeholders,
- Share practical experiences and lessons learnt for strengthening PHCs readiness in health emergency management,
- Explore practical approaches for operationalizing ERPHC across different contexts and emergency settings, while promoting collaboration and country engagement for implementation and capacity building.
Agenda and Speakers
Introduction: Dr Supriya Bezbaruah, EPI-WIN Lead, EPI-WIN Science and Knowledge Translation, WHO headquarters
Opening remarks: Dr Stella Chungong, Director, Health Emergency Preparedness Department, WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) and Dr Stacey Mearns, Director Primary Health Care, Resolve to Save Lives
Introducing the ERPHC Framework and Operational Guide: advancing community protection and resilience through PHC: Dr Kai von Harbou, Unit Head, Community Protection and Resilience, WHE
Panel Discussion: Operationalizing ERPHC in the countries in emergency response and across diverse settings and emergency contexts:
Moderated by Dr Kwang Rim, Technical Officer, Community Protection and Resilience, WHE
Panelists:
- Daniel Eurien, ERP Coordinator, Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation, Uganda
- Dr Abdullah Wailagala, Program Manager, Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), Uganda
- Dr Shamszzoha Babar, Unit head, Service delivery and PHC, Health Systems, Access and Data (HSD), WHO / Dr Sohel Saikat, Senior Advisor, Primary Health Care and Lead: Health Systems Resilience and EPHFs, HSD, WHO
- Dr Alexandre Gouveia, Senior Physician, Center for Primary Care and Public Health, University of Lausanne
Q&A: All speakers - Moderated by Dr Lilian Kiapi, Principal Advisor, PHC Delivery and Measurement, Resolve to Save Lives
Closing: Moderated by EPI-WIN Science and Knowledge Translation, WHO
Registration