The Joint External Evaluation Self-Assessment, Uganda, 14th-28th May, 2021

As the world becomes more interconnected, the next public health threat is just a plane away, hence the need to establish and maintain global health security. Uganda was among the first countries to pilot the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) in 2013, and joined other member countries in committing to the next phase of the GHSA strategic framework in 2018, termed “GHSA 2024” which calls upon countries to step up sustainable health security by 2024.

The GHSA aims to accelerate compliance to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) by encouraging all countries to observe a multisectoral, “One Health” approach. To assess the progress towards compliance, WHO designed a Joint External Evaluation (JEE) which became a key component of the IHR’s monitoring and evaluation framework.

The JEE is an independent, transparent, objective, and multisectoral assessment, process that enables countries to determine their ability to be prepared for and address infectious disease risks through a coordinated response. It assesses capacities across 19 technical areas to establish a baseline assessment, enabling countries to have a greater understanding of their gaps and weaknesses in health security, so they can focus efforts to improve in these areas.

In 2017, Uganda held its first JEE which assessed the country’s capacity to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to public health emergencies (PHEs). Under the guidance of the office of the prime minister, the National Plan for Health Security (NAPHs) 2019 – 2023 was developed to bridge gaps in health Security identified by JEE and step up capacities.

The JEE is scheduled to take place every after five years, however, between 14th-28th May 2021, Uganda conducted a JEE self-assessment, to assess the progress towards attaining the 2017 JEE recommendations and help the country prioritize activities that can form a one-year operational plan for improving capacity levels before the next JEE is held. The self- assessment workshop was held at the Ministry of Health Public Health Emergency Operation Center (PHEOC) led by the office of the prime minister and Ministry of Health, and facilitated by experts in the 19 technical areas. This was a hybrid multisectoral exercise involving both physical and online participation via zoom, in respect of the COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures.

The 19 technical areas discussed were grouped into four thematic areas; prevent, Detect, Respond, and other IHR related hazards and point of Entry (PoE). Under the four themes, different topics including immunization, animal health, zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, risk communication, policy and financing, emergency response, human resources, and laboratory systems among others. To assess the progress, participants were requested to score capacities for each indicator using the revised JEE 2.0 tool and propose activities for improvement. Different actions were identified to form the 2021-2022 operational plan for health security and Uganda’s commitments to the GHSA 2024, as will be discussed in the final report.