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Public health emergencies arising from multi hazards and threats continue to be a major concern, especially in the African Region with more than 100 public health emergencies reported and responded to annually. To enhance swift, effective and coordinated prevention, preparation, response and recovery to these emergencies, the International Health Regulations recommend the establishment of a functional Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) to serve as the ‘nerve centre’ for preparation and response to public health emergencies. Mauritius strives to have an established PHEOC with a well-established incident command and control system, with the necessary well trained core workforce, tested standard operating procedures, well equipped physical facility where results from surveillance and/or early detection of alerts can be managed in a timely manner and lead to swift and effective response of public health emergencies to subsequently reduce the health and socio- economic burden on the country.

The Covid-19 pandemic has left major impact globally. Mauritius has been very efficient in responding to the pandemic through various measures established during the crisis. Although the response has been swift, the toll on the health of population as well as the socio-economic implications cannot be undermined. Among the key lessons learned, the need for strengthened preparedness and real-time early warning systems are of high priority. Mauritius thus endeavors to consistently strengthen its public health emergency preparedness and early warning system through the upscaling of its Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) System. The Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) with the support of World Health Organization has therefore made major progress in IDSR this year through 1. the adaptation of the 3rd edition of the WHO technical guidelines for IDSR to meet Mauritius context, 2.  the capacity building of healthcare workers through training of  46 trainers and 151 regional Health Care Workers on IDSR, 3. the initiation of a national cascade training of IDSR aiming to train 7000 health professionals in 181 health facilities in the Republic of Mauritius by December 2024, and 4. the revision of the list of priority diseases that will be part of the real-time surveillance and early warning system.

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