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WHO Details Saudi Partnership to Boost Regional Health Emergency Preparedness
The World Health Organization outlined on April 1, 2026, how its partnership with Saudi Arabia’s National Health Emergency Operations Centre strengthens preparedness for health emergencies across the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The centre, designated a WHO Collaborating Centre for Disaster and Emergency Management within the Ministry of Health, combines operational expertise with the global body’s normative leadership and coordination role. This collaboration supports member states confronting diverse hazards, according to the WHO feature story.
The WHO feature story reported that the partnership leverages WHO’s provision of strategic direction, global standards and regional coordination platforms to advance health emergency preparedness and response. It added that the Saudi centre translates this guidance into practice via capacity-building initiatives for countries in the region, which encompasses 22 nations and more than 500 million people. A 2024 Frontiers in Public Health article by M Elhakim noted that the Eastern Mediterranean Region faces numerous public health risks from biological, chemical, man-made and natural hazards.
Several study tours for delegations from member states formed a core element of the centre’s contributions, the feature story stated, integrating technical training, operational demonstrations and lessons from real emergency responses. These tours showcased functional emergency operations centre models, coordination mechanisms and information systems to provide practical implementation insights. The centre also adopted a hybrid capacity-building approach combining in-person and virtual modalities to ensure sustained engagement despite logistical constraints.
Direct technical support to member states in assessing and operationalizing emergency operations centres represented another key activity, according to the WHO feature story, covering governance structures, staffing models, standard operating procedures and operational readiness. The centre further developed and implemented a National Health Emergency Research Strategy, conducting research across priority areas with findings published and disseminated to inform policy and practice at national and regional levels. A separate WHO report from June 2026 indicated that nine of the region’s 22 countries and territories are fragile or conflict-affected, with 117 million people requiring humanitarian aid.
The collaboration has delivered mutual benefits, the April 1, 2026, feature story explained, helping WHO implement its global and regional health emergency preparedness agenda through access to a fully operational centre. It has advanced the Global Health Emergency Corps framework, emergency medical team readiness and regional capacity-building aligned with international standards. For the Saudi institution, the partnership has reinforced alignment with WHO priorities while expanding its role in technical exchange and knowledge dissemination.
All 22 member states completed the 2023 State Party Self-Assessment Annual Reporting process for international health regulations core capacities, a Frontiers in Public Health study from 2024 found, while 20 had undertaken the first round of Joint External Evaluations by early 2024. The WHO feature story highlighted how the Saudi centre’s research outputs and training programmes contribute to evidence-based practice, simulation-based learning and leadership development across the region. Recent WHO efforts have also focused on emergency medical teams, with several countries progressing toward global classification standards.
Future collaboration may encompass long-term leadership and workforce development programmes, expanded study tours and technical exchanges, the feature story indicated, along with joint initiatives to support member states in strengthening emergency operations centres and preparedness systems. This builds on existing mechanisms for public health emergency operations centres, incident management and health security priorities. A BMJ Public Health retrospective analysis covering 2016 to 2023 underscored ongoing evaluations of such capacities throughout the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
