International Health Regulations (IHR) Summer School Revision

Duration: 2023

Partner countries: Countries in Africa and Southeastern Europe who sent participants to IHR Summer School workshops in Berlin between 2017 and 2022

Partner institutions: Ministries of health or public health institutions in the above-mentioned countries

Involved RKI unit: Unit 31

Group photo of the IHR Summer School 2022 in Berlin. Source: RKI

Challenges addressed by the project

Through the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), World Health Organisation (WHO) Member States agreed to strengthen their capacities to prevent, detect and respond to health events that could threaten international health security. The IHR Summer School has provided partner countries with a learning opportunity and an exchange platform, and reinforced regional cooperation and communication since 2017. It contributed to these being able to more effectively address biological health threats and provided a context where intersectoral and regional partnership as well as international communication is enhanced. The COVID-19 pandemic tested public health capacities worldwide, initiating a review of the IHR (2005) functioning. In order to better map the lessons identified, experiences and adaptations, the existing IHR Summer School concepts and contents should also be revised.

Objectives

The RKI is a WHO Collaborating Centre for Emerging Infections and Biological Threats and, in line with IHR Article 44 (collaboration and assistance), seeks to support other countries with IHR (2005) implementation and their core capacity strengthening.

The project aims at evaluating the 2017-22 IHR Summer School regarding its format, content, goal achievements and its usefulness for past participants on the understanding and better implementation of the IHR in their country. The results, as well as e.g. lessons identified from the COVID-19 pandemic and experiences from other IHR-related capacity strengthening activities, will serve as the basis for a revised and even stronger edition of the IHR Summer School that meets the target group’s current and future needs.

Overview of activities

The planned project steps are as follows:

1. Analysis of all previous IHR Summer Schools in terms of achievement of the course’s objectives as well as participants’ feedback based on each past edition’s reports and evaluation booklets.
2. Online survey among past participants inquiring about the usefulness of the IHR Summer School for their work on IHR implementation, potential post-course exchange with other participants as well as potential feedback on the course’s past structure and format and suggestions for an adapted concept. Conduction of a virtual session to get more detailed and interactive feedback might also be considered depending on the survey feedback.
3. Conception and draft development of an updated, revised and even more effective IHR Summer School curriculum that includes more recent experiences as well as newly-identified challenges and lessons.

Within this project, the RKI might also be able to discern potential effects the past trainings may have had on the participants’ and country’s IHR preparedness and response to COVID-19 (and other events).

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