Empowering the next generation of outbreak responders in the Western Pacific

From 27 to 31 July 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) led 24 participants from 18 countries across the Western Pacific Region through a health emergency scenario exercise to strengthen their readiness to deploy and operate as a single international response team. This five-day Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) Outbreak Response Scenario Programme was delivered in collaboration with regional partners including the University of Newcastle and the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre’s Public Health Operations in Emergencies for National Strengthening in the Indo-Pacific (PHOENIX) programme.

GOARN’s reach is reflected in the diversity of its membership, which includes Australia, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tonga, the United States of American, Vanuatu and Viet Nam. Its scenario-based programme prepares outbreak responders and builds their confidence in working as part of a multidisciplinary and multinational team ready to take action when a health emergency occurs.

Workforce readiness is the bedrock of emergency response

“It is one thing to lead a response among familiar colleagues in a familiar system. It is another to do it alongside people who bring different backgrounds, different institutional norms and different ways of solving problems - all while a simulated outbreak keeps evolving around them,” said Dr Sharon Salmon, Technical Officer for the Health Emergencies Programme in the WHO Western Pacific Region. “That gap is exactly what the GOARN capacity strengthening and health emergency workforce development programme is designed to close.”

This GOARN programme is one expression of a much larger commitment WHO is leading globally: the Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC) initiative. Launched in 2023 and anchored in WHO’s broader health emergency preparedness architecture, GHEC enhances global workforce capacities and the coordination mechanisms that connect them. ‘Surge’ comprises one of three layers of the GHEC workforce pyramid that WHO aims to strengthen through GHEC. GOARN training programmes are a channel that WHO leverages to build regional surge capacities across the Western Pacific.

The underlying message driving the programme is straightforward: investing in people is what really strengthens response and ultimately, what saves lives.

Photo caption: Participants work through a simulation exercise during a five-day Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) Outbreak Response Scenario Programme in Fiji (27–31 July 2026). Photo credit: WHO/ Sharon Salmon.

Five days… one unfolding emergency

Rather than static lessons, participants in the GOARN programme worked through an emergency scenario that shifted and escalated over the course of the week, forcing teams to continually reassess, realign and respond as new information and complications emerged.

Participants had the opportunity to experience first hand the operational and technical challenges of an international outbreak response, build practical problem-solving skills under realistic time and resource pressures, and strengthen professional networks with colleagues from across the Region.

Photo caption: Participants role play during a five-day Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) Outbreak Response Scenario Programme in Fiji (27–31 July 2026). Photo credit: WHO/ Sharon Salmon.

“We had to learn to trust one another, solve problems together and function as a single team – in a very short span of time,” shared Dr Darius Beh from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in Singapore, describing the value of the training. “Perhaps the biggest takeaway for me was that you can learn from every person in the room, and those professional relationships may become just as important as the technical skills when responding to a real event.”

Dr Janin Nouhin, Deputy Head of Virology Unit, Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, concurred: “This training taught me that successful deployments require more than technical expertise - they demand teamwork, adaptability, respect for the cultural and social realities of the communities we serve, and meaningful communications that build trust and collaboration across diverse stakeholders.”

These are the same core competencies GOARN relies on when real teams deploy - coordination, collaboration and rapid, evidence-based decision-making in complex emergency settings.

Towards a more prepared Region

Beyond technical skills, the programme is also deliberately designed to foster something less tangible but equally critical: regional connection. By strengthening capacity together, participants forge the networks and working relationships that make a coordinated response possible when a real crisis crosses borders. The capacity strengthening programme forms part of a broader regional initiative to ensure that countries across the Western Pacific are better connected, better prepared, and better able to respond collectively in times of crisis.

“Effective outbreak response relies on more than technical knowledge. Responders must be able to build trust quickly, communicate across cultures and disciplines, and make sound decisions under pressure. PHOENIX values the opportunity to work alongside WHO and regional partners to strengthen these practical capabilities and the relationships that support a coordinated regional response,” said Dr Chatu Yapa, PHOENIX Public Health Advisor.

Associate Professor Tambri Housen of the University of Newcastle noted that it was the first time the GOARN Outbreak Response Scenario Programme had been co-led by WHO and partners. “With the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific and the University of Newcastle delivering the GOARN programme together, we enable it to be rolled out across the Western Pacific, building sustainability and scalability into outbreak preparedness.”

This work is supported by the Australian Government through the Partnerships for a Health Region initiative and implemented by the PHOENIX programme. Australian government investments, in partnership with WHO, have strengthened the foundations of regional health security, enabling earlier detection of outbreaks and timely emergency responses.

About GOARN

The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), coordinated by the World Health Organization since 2000, strengthens global health security by advancing preparedness for and response to public health emergencies. The network brings together more than 360 institutions, including national public health agencies, technical organizations and nongovernmental partners, to support coordinated international action during outbreaks and other health emergencies. There are 93 GOARN partners in the Western Pacific Region (as of August 2026), accounting for approximately 25% of global partners.