Building Global Health Security Capacity: The Role for Implementation Science

Since the launch of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) in 2014,1-3 many countries around the world have accelerated efforts to achieve compliance with the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) to build their capacities to detect, assess, and report public health events.4 WHO approved a standardized Joint External Evaluation (JEE) tool in February 2016 that provides a framework for assessing a country's gaps and progress toward IHR 2005 implementation.5,6 By October 2018, more than 86 countries in 6 regions had completed a JEE.7 Based on JEE scores and recommended priority actions for improvement, multiple countries, in collaboration with technical partners such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are actively working to build their capacities and strengthen core systems to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats.