:: Response

The IHR (2005) includes the offer of international collaboration to countries affected or threatened by an emergency, which includes guidance and technical cooperation, the mobilization of international experts to provide assistance in the field, and provision of the supplies needed to deal with the situation.

As part of its response to the public health emergency of international concern due to 2009 (H1N1) pandemic, WHO activated the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN). Between April and November 2009, 17 PAHO Member States5 benefited from the technical support of experts mobilized by it. A total of 77 experts from 17 institutions and agencies, as well as PAHO/WHO experts, were deployed to work with the national response teams.

Response support provided by PAHO/WHO for other events in the Region of the Americas, include the following recent events:

• May 2012 - Bolivia (the Plurinational State of) – Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, Beni department. Laboratory experts deployment. Read more.
  
  
• March 2012 – Guatemala - Neurological Syndrome of unknown cause. Deployment of experts in veterinary public health and case management.
  
  
• September 2011 – Panama - Hospital outbreak of Klebsiella pneumoniae producer of carbapenemasas (KPC).
   
• October 2010 - Haiti and the Dominican Republic - Over 100 experts were deployed to support cholera response efforts, including those mobilized through GOARN, following the reintroduction of cholera in Haiti. 
  
  
• August 2010 - Peru - Outbreak of pulmonary plague in an area of known transmission.
   

:: For More Information

• Guiding Principles for International Outbreak Alert and Response
  
  
• GOARN : Partnership in Outbreak Response
  
  
• Worldwide distribution of GOARN partner institutions and networks