Recommendations from the 4th International Conference on Mass Gatherings Medicine, Saudi Arabia

[...]the event also witnessed the launching of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) chapter of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM) with the aim of providing evidence-based improvement, education, and advocacy of emergency and disaster health care and disaster risk reduction in the MENA region. Research and knowledge management * Encourage and support research in the field of mass gathering health and management and bridge the gap between academia and operations, in order to strengthen the evidence base for guidelines, standards and policies. * Create channels for dissemination of research outcomes in the area of mass gatherings health, including the establishment of a mass gathering and public health scientific journal. * Develop and standardize risk assessment tools for mass gathering to enable optimum planning and risk management at these events. * Support mass gathering legacy reporting (ideally in a standard format/template) to enable experience sharing of challenges and best-known practices in the planning and management of mass gathering events. * Encourage international knowledge and experience sharing in planning and managing mass gathering events, with a more prominent role for WHO and its mass gathering collaborating centres and networks. Health security and planning * Address the need for effective engagement with and coordination between multi-sectoral stakeholders in mass gatherings including events organizers, governments, public health sector, service providers and community-based organizations, to support breaking down silos and improve safety at mass gatherings. * Continue to strengthen global health security in the face of increasing number and types of mass gathering events, locally, nationally and internationally. * Implement health early warning and response systems at mass gatherings and encourage intentional collaboration with travel-associated surveillance networks for early detection of potential international outbreaks.