News and Insights about the GHS Index News & Analysis

Analysis

Building on the Joint External Evaluation Process

December 8, 2021
By regularly releasing data on countries’ health security capacities, the GHS Index aims to generate additional political will for resources to fill identified gaps. By design, the GHS Index is meant to bolster the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) process, which is a WHO led independent, collaborative, and multi-sectoral assessment of…
Analysis

New Zealand: A Case Study in Progress

December 8, 2021
Since the release of the 2019 GHS Index, New Zealand has made improvements in detection and reporting and compliance with international norms, which led to it jumping up 12 positions in rank. In particular, New Zealand showed increased capacity across laboratory system strength and quality, supply chains, and epidemiological…
Analysis

Defining Preparedness, Capacity, and Capability

December 8, 2021
Preparedness, capacity, and capability are important concepts to the GHS Index. The UN and WHO define preparedness as the ability of governments, professional response organizations, communities, and individuals to anticipate, detect, and respond effectively to, and recover from, the impact of likely, imminent, or current health emergencies, hazards, events, or…
Analysis

How the United States Squandered its Capacities to Respond to the Pandemic

December 8, 2021
With more reported cases and more deaths than any other country, the United States’ poor response to the COVID-19 pandemic shocked the world. As documented by the 2019 GHS Index, the United States had more global health security capacities in place to prevent and respond to epidemics and pandemics than…
Analysis

Preparedness for Pandemics Means Acting Now

December 8, 2021
COVID-19 has demonstrated the inadequacy of current global capacities to help countries respond to pandemics. The pervasive and protracted nature of pandemics distinguishes them from epidemics, which are more limited in geographic scope. In an epidemic, unaffected nations may be able to contribute funds, personnel, and other resources to assist…
Analysis

The GHS Index Theory of Change

December 8, 2021
Although other frameworks exist for measuring public health capacities, the GHS Index uniquely offers a broad assessment of preparedness gaps in all 195 States Parties to the International Health Regulations (IHR[2005]), the global treaty governing country requirements to mitigate cross-border health threats. The GHS Index is built upon three fundamental…
News

GHS Index Team Highlights Value of Tool in Article for The BMJ

October 21, 2020
An October 2020 commentary in The BMJ highlights the value of the Global Health Security (GHS) Index as a practical tool that can help inform global policy makers and practitioners. “The value proposition of the Global Health Security Index” was authored by members of the GHS Index project team at…