Early Action Review: Preventing local outbreaks from becoming pandemics (25 March 2024)

Summary

The Covid-19 pandemic, which rapidly escalated into a global crisis that impacted millions of lives and disrupted economies around the world, was a wake-up call for the management of infectious disease outbreaks. Dr Stella Chungong and Dr Landry Ndriko Mayigane work for the Health Security Preparedness Department in the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme. In this article, they encourage countries to implement early action reviews (EARs) of disease outbreaks. EARs help countries assess their vigilance, planning and responsiveness, and could help countries be better prepared during outbreaks. 

Content

The guidelines detail three time-based metrics, named 7-1-7, which offer a simple, structured approach to outbreak management:

1. 7 Days to Detect, which measures how quickly the country can detect a suspected disease outbreak, with the aim being detection within 7 days.
2. 1 Day to Notify, which measures the time taken to notify relevant public health authorities and stakeholders, with the aim being notification within 1 day. This goal is not new; it is consistent with the International Health Regulations (2005) that require countries to notify the relevant authorities within 24 hours of detecting a disease outbreak.
3. 7 Days to Respond measures how quickly the country can establish a response to the outbreak, the aim being the instigation of effective response actions within 7 days.