In light of COVID-19, governments all over the world, including those of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), are taking a closer look at their health emergency preparedness and response (HEPR) capabilities. This is true even as new outbreaks continue to pop up, and containing the pandemic remains most nations’ top priority. Efforts to ensure that HEPR systems, organizations, and workforces recover to a state of readiness advanced beyond pre-pandemic levels can and should take place alongside ongoing mitigation efforts. Indeed, timely HEPR system recovery and enhancement will be key to contending with subsequent waves of the virus as well as to handling the public health impacts of future disasters.
Based on our deep understanding of the GCC region, and our long history of supporting leading public health agencies all over the world, Booz Allen has come up with the following eight key areas of focus to guide GCC nations’ long and short-term COVID-19 HEPR recovery efforts. Download our full white paper to learn more.
- Evaluate and address the immediate recovery needs of the public, the HEPR workforce, and the business community.
- Re-assess healthcare system capacities and capabilities
- Strengthen coordination between stakeholders by reassessing current HEPR plans
- Develop HEPR-specific information and communication technology and data management requirements and capabilities
- Activate and strengthen HEPR funding schemes
- Revise priorities in national risk registers
- Explore the need to draft disaster-specific laws
- Test new HEPR capabilities prior to implementation through strategic simulations
