Health security: Minimizing danger from acute public health events worldwide
Health security: Protecting the world from disease outbreaks and emergencies
Dr. Amara Okafor will never forget the phone call that changed everything. As Nigeria’s district health officer, she’d seen countless patients with fever. But this was different—three villages reporting severe hemorrhagic fever with a 40% death rate within days.
“My first thought was Ebola,” she recalled. “My second thought was terror. We had no protective equipment, no isolation facilities, no treatment protocols. If this spread to Lagos—a city of 20 million—it would be catastrophic.”
Within hours of reporting to WHO, the global health security machinery activated. International experts arrived with diagnostic equipment. Protective gear was airlifted. A mobile laboratory was operational within 48 hours. The pathogen was identified as Lassa fever, not Ebola, but equally deadly without proper response.
“The speed of the international response saved countless lives,” Dr. Okafor said. “Ten years ago, before the International Health Regulations were strengthened, we would have been on our own. Health security systems meant the difference between a contained outbreak and a regional catastrophe.”
This is health security in action. According to WHO, global public health security is defined as the activities required, both proactive and reactive, to minimize the danger and impact of acute public health events that endanger people’s health across geographical regions and international boundaries.
For more on disease prevention, see our articles on pandemic preparedness and global health governance at ObserverVoice.com.
Growing Threats to Global Health Security
Population growth, rapid urbanization, environmental degradation, and the misuse of antimicrobials are disrupting the equilibrium of the microbial world. New diseases, like COVID-19, are emerging at unprecedented rates disrupting people’s health and causing social and economic impacts.
Health security challenges are multiplying. Billions of passengers travel on airplanes each year, increasing the opportunities for the rapid international spread of infectious agents and their vectors. Dependence on chemicals has increased, as has awareness of the potential hazards for health and the environment, like climate change and air pollution.
As the globalization of food production increases, so does the risk of tainted ingredients and risk of foodborne diseases. As the world’s population becomes more mobile and increases its economic interdependence, these global health threats increase and traditional defences at national borders cannot protect against the invasion of a disease or vector.
Pandemics, health emergencies and weak health systems not only cost lives but pose some of the greatest risks to the global economy and security faced today. WHO’s 2017 speech highlighted that health emergencies represent some of the greatest risks to the global economy and security.
Related health topics include health systems governance, International Health Regulations, and universal health coverage. For more on emerging diseases, see our article on outbreak control at ObserverVoice.com.
WHO’s Comprehensive Response
WHO’s mission is to help all countries fulfil their duty of safety and care to their citizens, especially to the poorest and most vulnerable. This is the goal of global public health security: to demonstrate how collective international public health action can build a safer future for humanity.
WHO Member States face increasing numbers of emergencies with health consequences from all hazards, including infectious disease outbreaks, conflicts, natural disasters, chemical or radio-nuclear spills and food contamination. Many emergencies can be complex, with more than one cause, and can have significant public health, social, economic and political impacts.
WHO has specific responsibilities and accountabilities for emergency operations under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) and within the global humanitarian system as the Interagency Standing Committee (IASC) Global Health Cluster Lead Agency.
WHO’s health security interface works with international organizations, civil defense, military doctors, law enforcement and armed forces. The Secretariat advocates for the role of public health in the security sector, increases WHO preparedness and response to deliberate events and provides awareness about health security internationally.
Key WHO Activities
WHO coordinates comprehensive activities including strengthening community protection and resilience for health emergencies, strengthening readiness to respond to emergencies, translating science for better health emergency preparedness, and strengthening the global health-security interface.
WHO publishes latest Disease Outbreak News (DONs) providing timely information on outbreaks worldwide.
Recent Developments and Publications
January 2026 WHO reported testing the system through regional simulation exercises advancing global health security. October 2024 WHO launched new Horizon X Programme for One Health emergency preparedness. October 2023 FAO, WHO, and WOAH launched new online course on joint response to zoonotic disease outbreaks.
December 2025 WHO published Compendium of practice to inform regional and national civilian-military collaboration for health emergency preparedness. December 2025 WHO published Heat, air pollution and solar ultraviolet radiation: mass gathering-specific considerations and research gaps, noting 2024’s global mean near-surface temperature was 1.55°C above the 1850–1900 average.
December 2025 WHO published Joint External Evaluations of IHR (2005) core capacities for Solomon Islands and the Philippines.
WHO featured strengthening Vanuatu’s health resilience with better data collection, donors’ support for WHO work in Syria, worldwide support for WHO’s work on health emergencies, and Brazil implementing Go.Data for enhanced contact tracing.
International Framework and Resolutions
WHO Member States passed multiple resolutions strengthening health security: WHA 72.8 on public health emergencies: preparedness and response IHR (2005), WHA 64.10 on strengthening national health emergency and disaster management capacities, WHA 69.4 on role of health sector in Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management, and WHA 55.16 on global public health response to biological and chemical agents or radio-nuclear material.
Dr. Okafor’s region is now prepared. Her district has stockpiles of protective equipment, trained rapid response teams, functioning laboratories, and direct communication channels with WHO. “We conduct simulation exercises quarterly. When the next outbreak comes—and it will—we’ll be ready. That’s what health security means: being prepared before crisis strikes, not scrambling when people are dying.”
For more information, visit WHO’s health security topic page or explore related content at ObserverVoice.com.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Global public health security is defined as the activities required, both proactive and reactive, to minimize the danger and impact of acute public health events that endanger people’s health across geographical regions and international boundaries. Challenges include population growth, rapid urbanization, environmental degradation, antimicrobial misuse, new diseases like COVID-19 emerging at unprecedented rates, billions of passengers traveling by airplane increasing opportunities for rapid international spread of infectious agents, climate change, air pollution, globalization of food production, and increasing population mobility. Traditional defences at national borders cannot protect against disease invasion. Related: International Health Regulations.
WHO’s mission is to help all countries fulfil their duty of safety and care to their citizens, especially to the poorest and most vulnerable. The goal of global public health security is to demonstrate how collective international public health action can build a safer future for humanity. WHO Member States face increasing numbers of emergencies from all hazards including infectious disease outbreaks, conflicts, natural disasters, chemical or radio-nuclear spills and food contamination. WHO has specific responsibilities under International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) and as IASC Global Health Cluster Lead Agency. Related: health systems governance.
WHO’s health security interface works with international organizations, civil defense, military doctors, law enforcement and armed forces. The Secretariat advocates for role of public health in security sector, increases WHO preparedness and response to deliberate events and provides awareness about health security internationally. WHO coordinates activities including strengthening community protection and resilience, strengthening readiness to respond to emergencies, translating science for better preparedness, and strengthening global health-security interface. WHO publishes Disease Outbreak News.
January 2026 WHO reported regional simulation exercises advancing global health security. October 2024 WHO launched Horizon X Programme for One Health emergency preparedness. December 2025 WHO published Compendium of practice to inform civilian-military collaboration for health emergency preparedness, Heat, air pollution and solar ultraviolet radiation: mass gathering considerations, and Joint External Evaluations for Solomon Islands and Philippines.
WHO Member States passed multiple resolutions: WHA 72.8 on public health emergencies: preparedness and response IHR (2005), WHA 64.10 on strengthening national health emergency and disaster management capacities, WHA 69.4 on role of health sector in Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management, WHA 55.16 on global public health response to biological and chemical agents. WHO has specific responsibilities under International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) and as IASC Global Health Cluster Lead Agency. Related: universal health coverage.
- WHO Health Security Topic Page
- Disease Outbreak News (DONs)
- International Health Regulations
- WHA 72.8: Public Health Emergencies – Preparedness and Response
- Horizon X Programme for One Health Emergency Preparedness (October 2024)
Disclaimer: This article is an adaptation of publicly available information from WHO’s Health security
health topic page (WHO, Geneva. Licence: CC BYNC-SA 3.0 IGO). WHO is not responsible for the
content or accuracy of this adaptation. This content is for informational and educational purposes
only and does not constitute medical advice. ObserverVoice.com is a news and information platform
— not a healthcare provider.
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