Public Health Emergency Management Directorate

Public Health Emergency Management Directorate

Our vision is to be a center of excellence in public health emergency management in Ethiopia.

Mission

To establish a strong and effective public health emergency management system through robust early warning and surveillance, public health emergency (PHE) preparedness, PHE response and recovery from various public health emergencies throughout the region.

Objectives

To ensure rapid detection of any public health threats, preparedness and prompts response to and recovery from various public health emergencies.

Major Activities

Coordinate and assist all efforts to improve the preparedness of the health sector to prevent or reduce the public health consequences of outbreaks of diseases including malaria, measles, malnutrition, cholera, natural disasters, industrial or technological accidents, displacement of populations, civil unrest, conflicts or acts of terrorism and any other emergency or disaster situations. In particular, the directorate will be responsible to:

    • Identify, assess and monitor existing or potential threats to the public health;
    • Coordinate and ensure the formulation of preparedness plans for all types of public health emergencies at regional, zonal or lower levels;
    • Strengthen the Public Health Emergency Management capacity of the human resources of the health sector through direct training and coordination/ assistance to efforts to be undertaken by the Academic Institutions, other departments of the RHB or other health actors;
    • Issue alerts and warnings to the general public regarding potential public health emergencies or disasters;
    • Maintain and administer a stockpile of supplies and equipment required for rapid response to public health emergencies;
    • Ensure that South Ethiopia Region meet its international health security obligations in particular those under the International Health Regulations adopted in 2005.

As a PHEM Directorate, we aspire to build a resilient Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) system with all of the capacities and capabilities required for risk mitigation, emergency preparedness, and emergency response and recovery in place.