Session Global Health Emergency Corps Survey: The role of NPHIs in health emergencies
During the IANPHI Annual Meeting 2025, IANPHI hosted a session related to the Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC) survey on the role of NPHIs in health emergency rapid response systems. The survey was complemented by interviews on the role of connected leadership for all hazards health emergencies. Director Generals of NPHIs were interviewed. This work was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The objective of the session was to discuss and verify the findings of the survey and the interviews with NPHIs in order to further inform GHEC and IANPHI on how to support NPHIs in their work related to health emergency preparedness and responses, including how IANPHI potentially can support NPHI proposals to the Pandemic Fund (third call, phase II).
Speakers during the session were Andrew Lee, Professor of Public Health at the University of Sheffield and Regional Deputy Director for Health Protection with UKHSA and Scott Dowell, Senior Advisor for the Global Health Emergency Corps at the World Health Organization (WHO).
The session ended with a roundtable discussion in small groups. Each groups chose one of these discussion questions:
- What does connected leadership look like in an all-hazards health emergency and what is the role of NPHIs?
- How can NPHIs foster regional collaboration to address cross border threats?
The session was co-moderated by Andrew Lee and Rosita Wigand, Program Manager for International Initiatives at IANPHI and Analyst for the Public Health Agency of Sweden.
Presentation I: NPHI national health emergency corps survey and connected leaders’ interviews, Andrew Lee, Professor of Public Health, University of Sheffield and Regional Deputy Director for Health Protection, UKHSA
Andrew Lee opened the session by providing an overview of the Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC) framework for enhancing health emergency workforce capacity with health emergency prevention, preparedness, response and resilience (HEPR). Lee further emphasized that GHEC is not an external task force parachuted into countries but rather a collaborative platform designed to support and strengthen national public health emergency workforces and health emergency networks. The goal of GHEC is to build a global network of connected leaders—primarily through National Public Health Institutes (NPHI)—capable of planning, preparing, and responding to health emergencies in order to prevent future pandemics.
The survey with IANPHI members focused on the role of NPHIs in health emergencies, and particularly on the deployment and surge of the health emergency workforce. The interviews with NPHI served to understand the current state of the interactions, relationships and strength of connected leaders within the country from national to community level. The purpose of the interviews was also to understand how leaders engage with neighboring countries, regional entities or internationally to expedite access to intelligence, support and agree actions that are mutually beneficial to prevent spill-overs across borders and prevent epidemics from becoming pandemics, and to enable timely response to protect borders.
Presentation II: Global Health Emergency Corps – National Public Health Institutes are vital, Scott Dowell, Senior Advisor for the Global Health Emergency Corps at the World Health Organization (WHO)
Scott Dowell provided an in-depth update on the evolving structure and priorities of the GHEC, emphasizing its strategic importance and future direction. He began by acknowledging the relevance and timeliness of the data presented in the GHEC survey, reinforcing that NPHIs are not peripheral but central actors in global health emergency preparedness. He reiterated that the GHEC is being designed not as a parallel structure, but as a means of linking and empowering existing public health expertise within countries—especially within ministries and NPHIs—while creating a coordinated global system through which those experts can collaborate during crises.
Round Table Discussions on connected leadership in an all-hazard emergency and regional collaboration to address cross border threats
The roundtable discussions focused on NPHIs and connected leadership in an all-hazards health emergency, as well as the role of NPHI in fostering regional collaboration to address cross border threats.
Round table discussion presentation