In today’s globalized world, there are myriad opportunities for the rapid spread of diseases and other threats to health security. In the event of an emergency, public health emergency operation centres are a place for emergency management personnel to coordinate operational information and resources.

WHO’s Public Health Emergency Operations Centre Network (EOC-NET) promotes best practices and standards for emergency operation centres and builds Member States’ capacity to rapidly respond and detect to public health emergencies as mandated by the International Health Regulations.

WHO’s Strategic Health Operations Centre (SHOC) is the heart of this network. SHOC monitors global public health events around the clock and facilitates international collaboration during public health emergencies.

Following the detection of a potential major public health event, SHOC provides the communications platform to obtain further information from the affected country and other authoritative sources. Once that information is received, SHOC uses emergency management tools to support risk assessments and any required WHO response. Beyond response operations, SHOC is involved in identifying and tracking resources and appraising public health threats.

WHO uses an Incident Management System (IMS) to organize and manage each emergency response. Every individual working in emergencies for WHO (including non-WHO staff who deploy as part of the response team) must be familiar with the IMS structure and roles.