Building an emergency-ready health workforce by 2030: Global Health Emergency Corps Strategy launched at WHA79

17 May 2026, Cairo, Egypt - Global leaders, Member States and partners gathered yesterday on the sidelines of the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA79) for the launch of the Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC) Strategy, a shared vision to build an emergency-ready and resilient health workforce in every country by 2030.

The side event, co-hosted by Ethiopia, Germany and Brazil and supported by the Gates Foundation and the Institute of Philanthropy, highlighted the urgent need to invest in health emergency preparedness and strengthen coordination across countries and regions given the increasingly complex nature of health emergencies.

The GHEC Strategy aims to translate global commitments under the International Health Regulations (IHR) and the Pandemic Agreement into practical national capacities by strengthening emergency health workforces and improving coordination, interoperability and surge response mechanisms. It sets a clear benchmark - ensuring that 10% of the health workforce in every country is organized, trained, exercised and connected to respond to emergencies by 2030.

In keynote remarks, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hanan Balkhy emphasized that preparedness must become a sustained national capability rather than a reactive effort mobilized during crises.

"Health emergencies do not respect borders, and preparedness cannot depend on last-minute mobilization," said Dr Balkhy. "It requires trusted leadership, nationally owned systems, coordinated workforces and collaboration that moves faster than crises themselves."

She noted that the Strategy offers countries a practical pathway to strengthen readiness by building nationally organized emergency workforces connected across borders through solidarity, shared expertise and coordinated action.

Reflecting on recent crises across the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Dr Balkhy stressed that stronger coordination and faster collaboration are essential to protecting lives and preventing emergencies from escalating.

"As recent crises across the Eastern Mediterranean Region - and beyond - have shown, countries need systems and partnerships that can move quickly, coordinate effectively and deliver support before emergencies spiral further," she said.

Throughout the event, participants underscored that health emergencies are becoming evermore complex and interconnected, reinforcing the need for stronger national ownership alongside regional and global collaboration.

The Strategy aims to better connect emergency medical teams, field epidemiologists, public health experts, outbreak response networks and emergency operations centres to improve coordination and surge response during crises. It promotes simulation exercises, workforce development, quality-assured surge standards and cross-border collaboration to strengthen preparedness and response capacities.

Participants highlighted the importance of turning political commitments into measurable actions that develop the health workforce, emergency coordination systems and long-term preparedness planning, and called for stronger domestic and international investment to ensure countries are better able to detect, respond to and recover from disease outbreaks, pandemics and humanitarian emergencies.

Participants rallied around 4 shared priorities for action: organize emergency workforces, including surge teams and leaders; exercise regularly through simulations and test drills to sustain readiness; coordinate through established mechanisms and protocols, and connect emergency workforces and networks within and across countries.

The launch concluded with a collective call for solidarity and sustained investment to ensure that by 2030 every country has the leadership, workforce and systems needed to respond rapidly and effectively to health emergencies.