In Cambodia, WHO's preparedness team recognised for helping build a stronger local response - ISS-G20 Laboratorium Repository

The past few years of the COVID-19 pandemic have been enormously difficult for communities in Cambodia, and for many health workers in particular, who have worked tirelessly to support and care for all those affected by the virus. While this has been a testing time, the Royal Government of Cambodia is viewing the pandemic and its response as an opportunity to strengthen the country’s health system for the future.

The World Health Organization (WHO) local preparedness team in Cambodia has been recognised by the WHO Western Pacific Region for its excellent teamwork.

As Cambodia plans for the sustained management of COVID-19 and beyond, a key aspect will continue to be local preparedness. Being prepared has been key since the beginning of pandemic, and it remains important and relevant now, in this phase of sustained management of COVID-19. This includes developing and strengthening an emergency health response system, an incident management system that is activated when needed, whether for a disease outbreak or related to a natural hazard such as a flood.

“The beauty of local preparedness is that we aim to strengthen a generic local public health system, so no matter what emergency you face, you can modify and use the same system”, says Dr Vannda Kab, the lead on local preparedness for the WHO in Cambodia. “If you set up a strong incident management system that connects all key functions, you can use and adapt it for any emergency: flood response, or outbreak of disease in the village or the province. That’s the beauty of it. This is our vision.”

Entire content available on: https://www.who.int/cambodia/news/feature-stories/detail/in-cambodia--who-s-preparedness-team-recognised-for-helping-build-a-stronger-local-response