The case for EOCs post-Ebola

DEVEX    by  By Jenny Lei Ravelo                        March 19, 2015
Emergency operation centers have been critical in stemming potential Ebola outbreaks in several West African countries like Nigeria and Mali, but there remain doubts about whether countries would keep them post-Ebola. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, special representative of the secretary-general and head of the U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, meets with UNMEER staff at the Ebola Operation Center in Bamako, Mali. Should EOCs be retained post-Ebola? Photo by: Pierre Peron / UNMEER / CC BY-ND

This is largely because of its potential to cause “institutional turf wars” within the government structure, according to Madji Sock, partner at global development advisory firm Dalberg.

EOCs provide critical services during crises. Their quick coordination and decision-making processes and immediate deployment of health personnel and lifesaving tools and equipment enable rapid response to public health threats. In the United States, the EOC, managed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, is staffed round-the-clock....

But the structure is missing in many West African countries, as evidenced by the Ebola crisis. It took months for authorities to detect and confirm the spread of Ebola in Guinea, where it all started, and by that time, the virus has already affected hundreds, making immediate containment difficult.

However, when the World Health Organization announced the outbreak and eventually labeled it a public health emergency, neighboring West African countries took notice. Nigeria, having in place an incident management system for its polio eradication response that would later be transformed to an EOC to handle the threat of Ebola in the country, shared its experience with neighboring countries. This helped Mali, for example, to be prepared when it had its first Ebola case in October. Authorities knew better and set up their own EOC almost immediately.

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https://www.devex.com/news/the-case-for-eocs-post-ebola-85739