GOARN - Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network

🌍 Supporting WHO’s Emergency Response in South Sudan 🌍 In late 2024, Tina Bonde Sorensen, a field epidemiologist with the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST)—a key partner of GOARN—deployed to Renk, South Sudan, to support WHO’s response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the emergency in Sudan. As part of the GOARN deployment, Tina joined the World Health Organization incident management team in the field. Early in her deployment, a suspected cholera outbreak was detected among refugees crossing from Sudan. Tina’s work focused on supporting surveillance, water testing, case investigations, and raising awareness. The early detection of cholera was a significant success, enabling swift action to contain the outbreak. This experience highlighted the importance of early detection and the power of working in partnership to address global health challenges. #HumanitarianResponse #CholeraOutbreak #WHO #GOARN #SouthSudan #PublicHealth #EmergencyResponse #UKaid #FieldEpidemiology UK Health Security Agency London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U. of London Department of Health and Social Care

🌍 Empowering the Next Generation of Global Health Experts: The GOARN Berlin Fellowship Program 🌍 The GOARN Berlin Fellowship Program, a key initiative coordinated by GOARN, the Robert Koch Institute, and the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, is shaping the future of global health security. By equipping emerging public health leaders with essential skills and hands-on experience, the fellowship enhances epidemic intelligence, outbreak response, and global health preparedness. Talented professionals from across the globe have joined this collaborative effort, working on impactful projects that improve disease surveillance, outbreak control, and health data sharing. Fellows contribute to critical initiatives, such as developing early warning systems and strengthening preparedness for zoonotic diseases like rabies and cholera. 🔑 Through these partnerships, fellows are helping to build more resilient health systems and improve global health response capabilities. The support from GOARN, RKI, and the WHO Hub is empowering the next generation of experts to tackle future public health challenges and strengthen health systems globally. #GlobalHealth #EpidemicPreparedness #WHO #GOARN #RKI #HealthSecurity #PublicHealth #EpidemicIntelligence #FutureLeaders #GlobalCollaboration

🌍 WHO Health Emergencies Operational Update – January 2025 🌍 The latest Operational Update from the World Health Organization highlights key developments in global health emergencies including GOARN activities. Key points include: 🚑 GOARN activities Deployments: In 2024, GOARN deployed 67 specialized international experts across 16 WHO operations globally, contributing essential technical support in epidemiology, surveillance, case management, and community engagement. These experts worked on various emergencies, including outbreaks like Mpox, Marburg, cholera, measles, yellow fever, and more. GOARN’s deployments also prioritized gender parity, with 55% of deployees being women. Training and capacity strengthening: GOARN conducted seven global leadership and integrated public health emergency response training sessions, training 250 participants across WHO regions. These efforts helped strengthen local and national capacities, directly supporting ongoing health responses worldwide. A key highlight: the launch of the National Outbreak Response Handbook, designed to strengthen national outbreak response efforts globally. 🦠 Measles Response in Mongolia In August 2024, a measles outbreak in Mongolia was quickly contained thanks to rapid action and support from WHO and GOARN. With expert surge support, Mongolia avoided a large-scale outbreak and enhanced its future outbreak response capabilities. #GlobalHealth #WHO #GOARN #OutbreakResponse #HealthEmergencies #PublicHealth #ContactTracing #DiseasePreparedness #HealthResilience

🚨 New Publication Alert! 🚨 We're excited to announce the publication of the Concept Note on the GOARN Strategic Group for Diagnostic Surge Capacities (DiSC)! This document outlines the evolution of the Rapid Response Mobile Laboratory (RRML) initiative from its inception in 2018, led by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, to its current transformation in 2024 under the global GOARN DiSC strategic group. 🌍🔬 Key highlights include: ✔️ GOARN DiSC’s strategic objectives to strengthen diagnostic surge capacity during emergencies. ✔️ Four key functions that will drive this work until 2030: -Strengthening the RRML community of practice -Steering the work with a Coordination Board -Implementing the RRML Framework -Creating a supportive environment for RRMLs ✔️ A roadmap to enhance emergency preparedness and response capacities, ultimately providing better protection to affected communities. 🛡️ Dive into the full concept note and discover how we can drive change together for a safer, more prepared world. 🌍💪 #HealthEmergency #DiagnosticSurge #WHO #GOARN #PublicHealth #RRML #EmergencyResponse #GlobalHealth

🌍🎉 A huge congratulations to PHOENIX, for the successful completion of the Train-the-Trainers workshop! 🙌 Margaret Leong from Pacific Community-SPC in Fiji participated on behalf of GOARN, highlighting the importance of these trainings in building local capacity across the region. Through this workshop, participants gained essential skills to lead #publichealth training events, fostering a network of trainers who will continue to exchange best practices and provide support for future health emergencies. 💡🤝 We are proud to stand together in partnership with National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, a long-standing GOARN partner, to build a resilient and prepared health workforce that can effectively respond to global health events. Here’s to continued collaboration and impact! 🌐💪 #CapacityBuilding #PublicHealth #PHOENIX #GlobalHealth #IndoPacific #OutbreakResponse #GOARN #TrainingForImpact #PartnershipInHealth 🌟

🚨 The 2024 State of the Digital Public Goods Ecosystem Report is NOW LIVE featuring GOARNs Go.Data 🚨 This year’s report highlights how Digital Public Goods Alliance members and DPG product owners are strengthening the Digital Public Goods (DPG) ecosystem, and one standout feature is GOARN’s Go.Data tool. 🌍 Go.Data, developed by World Health Organization in collaboration with GOARN, is revolutionizing outbreak response by enabling real-time, offline data collection for case investigations, contact tracing, and more. This innovative tool streamlines the entire process, allowing for quicker, more coordinated action during health emergencies. From its first deployment in 2019 to its critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic, Go.Data’s global impact continues to grow. Most recently, it played a key role in Uganda’s Mpox outbreak, identifying 343 cases and over 2,000 contacts, with more than 80% of contacts followed up. Dive into the full report to see how Go.Data and other tools are transforming global health responses! #GoData #DigitalPublicGood #DPGA #HealthTech #EpidemicResponse #WHO #GOARN #GlobalHealth #OpenSource

🌍💪 Fanny Mujingila Bintu: A Humanitarian’s Journey in Cholera Response 💪🌍 With over 10 years of experience, Fanny Mujingila Bintu, a Cases Management Expert from the Institut national de santé publique, République Démocratique du Congo, has participated in numerous responses to epidemics, natural disasters, and other public health emergencies in her country. In 2024, she took part in her first international mission with GOARN, providing cholera case management support in the Comoros Islands. From May 27 to July 23, Fanny worked on the ground in Anjouan Island, the epicenter of the outbreak, helping save lives, overcoming vaccine hesitancy, and gaining valuable insights into the importance of partnerships and information sharing. This deployment has fueled her passion for humanitarian work even more, inspiring Fanny to continue supporting vulnerable populations in future missions. #HumanitarianWork #CholeraResponse #GOARN #PublicHealth #Partnerships #InformationSharing #Expertise #Comoros #InstitutNationalDeSantéPublique #WHO

🌍🔬 GOARN Remote Deployment in the Spotlight: Anna Ohlson 🌍🔬 Anna Ohlson, a European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) EPIET fellow from Sweden, is playing a crucial role in the global cholera response through her remote deployment with GOARN and World Health Organization's Global Cholera Incident Management Support Team (IMST). By analyzing data, supporting coordination, and providing key insights, Anna is helping to ensure faster, more effective interventions in cholera-affected regions. Her work highlights the power of collaboration, with partners coming together to address complex public health challenges and drive timely, impactful responses. 🌍 #GOARN #CholeraResponse #PublicHealth #FieldEpidemiology #WHO #RemoteDeployment #GlobalCollaboration

🚨🌍 GOARN Training in Brazil: Strengthening Global Health Capacity GOARN, in partnership with the Brazil Ministry of Health and PAHO, delivered GOARNs ‘orientation to international outbreak response’ training in Brasilia. The event brought together 35 participants from GOARN partner institutions across Brazil, fostering collaboration and equipping them with the skills needed to join international response teams. With over 310 technical institutions worldwide, GOARN plays a crucial role in addressing global public health challenges. The training focused on capacity strengthening and information sharing, ensuring participants are well-prepared to respond effectively to future health crises. 📹Watch the video to hear directly from participants. #GlobalHealth #GOARN #PublicHealth #CapacityBuilding #EmergencyResponse #PAHO #Brazil #HealthSecurity

📢 Call for experts: Help shape a new anti-stigma toolkit GOARN, together with our partners ISARIC - International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium and Pandemic Sciences Institute, are seeking experts with experience in stigma reduction and/or outbreak response to review a draft anti-stigma toolkit and contribute to its finalization. Stigma during disease outbreaks marginalizes people, deepens inequalities and undermines public health responses. Despite its impact, structured guidance for stigma reduction in outbreak settings remains limited. This new toolkit will bridge that gap by providing: ✅ International guiding principles for stigma reduction ✅ Practical recommendations for different groups We are seeking 30 experts to: ➡️ Review the draft toolkit | 2–3 hours between 1–14 April  ➡️ Attend an online consultation meeting | 3 hours on 28 April Register your interest by 14 March 👉 https://lnkd.in/ej-PgPs4 #GlobalHealth #Epidemics #Pandemics