How to Assess a Country’s Preparedness to Face a Public Health Emergency? A Scoping Review
- AIOR Admin
- Dec 28, 2025
- 1 min read
Eme Stepani Sitepu, Dumilah Ayuningtyas, Purnawan Junadi, Satibi
Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Gadjah Mada
Disasters and emergencies significantly affect public health, making preparedness assessments essential to demonstrate progress and identify gaps for decision-makers. However, knowledge of how countries assess their preparedness is limited. Tools created by national authorities often cater to specific evaluation needs and may not apply to others due to unique health system characteristics. This checklist evaluates parameters used to measure a region's preparedness for emergencies based on data collected from article searches. We searched various databases online using keywords related to public health, tools, and preparedness. The databases used included Proquest, Pubmed, Sage, ScienceDirect, and Scopus. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify parameters used to assess preparedness and epidemic vulnerability. 13 articles were used in this analysis, most of which were assessed on the African continent. The most widely used instruments in the articles were JEE and GHSI. Preparedness parameters that almost appeared in most of the instruments included surveillance preparedness, financing, physical infrastructure, emergency response operations, coordination, and health workforce. Regularly assessing a country's health preparedness is crucial for effective responses to health emergencies. Evaluations identify strengths and weaknesses in the health system and highlight needed improvements. Tools like the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) and WHO Toolkit focus on key areas, including surveillance, funding, infrastructure, collaboration, workforce, and emergency preparedness. These assessments enhance a nation's ability to tackle future health challenges and strengthen the global health system.
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