Namibia: National action plan for health security 2021-2025

Namibia, like several Member States in the WHO/AFR region, is committed to implementing the WHO IHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. This includes the voluntary Joint External Evaluation (JEE) of IHR core capacities that should be followed with a national action plan to achieve and sustain core capacities. Since adoption of the International Health Regulations, Namibia has carried out several assessments of country capacity to prevent the likelihood and reduce the consequences of outbreaks and other public health hazards, and build national capacities for early detection and effective response to public health emergencies and other events of public health concern.

This National Action Plan for Health Security, based on the JEE recommendations and other complementary assessments, covers all the 19 technical areas required to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats. Detailed plans for each technical area were developed by multi-sectoral working groups, to cover the period 2021‒2025. The plan takes into account a set of guiding principles and core values such as resilience, country ownership and leadership; community engagement; partnership inter-sectoral and multidisciplinary collaboration, evidence-led and forwards looking, and the One health approach.