Zimbabwe Completes Health Emergency Preparedness Assessment, Identifies Key Gaps
By Staff Reporter
Zimbabwe completed its second Joint External Evaluation assessing the country’s capacity to prevent, detect and respond to public health threats, identifying critical gaps in emergency preparedness systems.
The evaluation, conducted June 29 to July 4 under International Health Regulations, found outdated legal instruments, inadequate emergency funding and fragmented surveillance systems among areas requiring urgent attention.
“The JEE gives us a structured opportunity to check how ready we are to detect and respond to public health threats,” said Dr. Wenceslaus Nyamayaro, acting chief director of public health at the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
The assessment involved more than 100 participants from health, environment, veterinary services, defense and disaster management sectors.
It evaluated 19 technical areas including biosafety, surveillance, legislation and border security.
Key findings highlighted weak coordination between human, animal and environmental health sectors, limited gender equity in emergency response and insufficient laboratory infrastructure for biosafety and biosecurity.
The evaluation found notable gaps in funding for gender-based violence prevention and low representation of women in emergency decision-making processes.
Zimbabwe’s antimicrobial resistance efforts showed mixed results.
While the country developed a comprehensive action plan and established 14 surveillance sites, challenges remain in laboratory capacity and data integration.
Border readiness emerged as another concern, with limited ability to detect and respond to health threats at airports and entry points.
An external validation mission scheduled for Sept. 6-13 will involve international experts reviewing documentation and conducting site visits to key health facilities.
“The evaluation is about continuous improvement. It reflects Zimbabwe’s commitment to protect the health of its people through stronger systems, better data, and broader collaboration,” said Dr. Desta Tiruneh, WHO representative to Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe will develop a National Action Plan for Health Security following the validation mission to guide future investments in public health preparedness.
The World Health Organization coordinated the evaluation with support from the Health Resilience Fund, Africa CDC and UNICEF.
This marks Zimbabwe’s second such evaluation, with the first completed in 2018. The assessments occur every five years under international health regulations.
