Moving well into its fourth year, the Rohingya refugee emergency response in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, has been backed by a sound public health operational support through the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC/ Control Room) throughout the entire humanitarian crisis, since its onset in 2017.
When COVID-19 hit globally, in Bangladesh and in Cox’s Bazar, the HEOC/ Control Room at the Civil Surgeon Office (CSO) was promptly activated for Emergency Level 2 to serve as a coordination platform and information hub for ongoing COVID-19 surveillance and subsequent awareness in the district while providing guidance as different partners and stakeholders work towards addressing the emergent needs of the district’s vulnerable populations, including Rohingya refugees and nearby host communities.
Playing a critical role during the coronavirus pandemic, the Health Emergency Operations Center has been established three years ago with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) to enhance coordinated emergency mechanisms as public health threats emerge in and around the world’s largest refugee camp.
Backed by a sound public health operational support, Bangladesh has so far successfully limited the impact of COVID-19 in Cox’s Bazar, home to some 850 000 Rohingya refugees. WHO Bangladesh/Tatiana Almeida
The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) requires the structural set up of a Control Room in every district across the country, in Cox’s Bazar however such establishment was initiated following the massive influx of Rohingya refugees in August 2017. Nearly four years on, experience has shown that the timely implementation of a HEOC/ Control Room has been an essential platform for the effective management of public health emergencies in the Cox’s Bazar complex setting.
“So far, Cox’s Bazar has successfully limited the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the district as well as in the Rohingya camps very much due to this public health emergency management approach. The HEOC/Control Room acts as a trusted and reliable source for routine situational information throughout emergencies to better address vulnerable populations’ needs by continuously providing routine situational information”, says Cox’s Bazar Civil Surgeon, Dr Md Mahbubur Rahman.
“Public health emergencies may lead to increased incidence of illness, injury and even death, and require improved capacity to address morbidity, mortality as well as the interruption of essential health services. Since we established the HEOC/Control Room, three years back, we have been conducting risk analysis, preparing for and responding to health outbreaks and enabling the quick return to normal conditions”, tells WHO Technical Officer, Dr Umme Asma Absari, who is working closely with the Civil Surgeon at the Control Room.
UNICEF MIS Consultant, Usaimong Marma; WHO Technical Support Officer, Dr Umme Asma Absari; and JICA District Officer, Md Mahidul Islam, are some of the staff ensuring the Control Room’s daily activities. WHO Bangladesh/Tatiana Almeida
Over the past years, the Health Emergency Operations Center/Control Room switched between two levels of emergency based on the status of the Rohingya refugee crisis and health outbreaks, while providing public health and disease surveillance updates through social media, mass media channels and rumor tracking platforms. Capacity building in preparation for and response to natural disasters, including exercises and drills, are part of the HEOC’s scope of work to enhance capacity among partners and first line responders.
Daily current COVID-19 situation updates of Cox’s Bazar district are regularly issued from the Civil Surgeon Office through its official Facebook page. With the support of the WHO Epidemiology team, a COVID-19 Dashboard was created in 2020 to support the dissemination of key public health information and is accessible on the WHO website: https://cxb-epi.netfly.app/.
This platform enables the monitoring of COVID-19 positive cases (recoveries and mortality), contact tracing, Upazila wise capacities and bed occupancy rates at COVID-19 dedicated isolation and treatment centres for host communities and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and Isolation and Treatment Centers (ITCs) in the Rohingya refugee camps.
The goal of an effective PHEOC information system is to increase the availability, accessibility, quality, timeliness, and usefulness of emergency operations information for public health action.
WHO Head of Sub-Office, Dr Kai von Harbou, with WHO Epidemiology Team Lead, Dr Muhammad Khan, and WHO National Consultant Dr Tasnova Sadneen, during a COVID-19 outbreak update in Cox’s Bazar. WHO Bangladesh/Tatiana Almeida
“The World Health Organization has been supporting the establishment and sustaining of the Health Emergency Operations Center/Control Room in Cox’s Bazar since 2017 through technical support, provision of equipment and capacity building of human resources and we plan to continue supporting the Government of Bangladesh for as long as necessary. Despite its limited structural human resources, the Control Room has been enabling timely and effective coordination of life saving health response activities throughout the entire refugee crisis making our collaboration a very meaningful one”, notes WHO Head of Sub-Office, Dr Kai von Harbou.
The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) require that States Parties develop, strengthen and maintain their capacity to respond promptly and effectively to public health risks and public health emergencies. A functional Public Health Emergency Operations Center to manage emergencies, incidents, or events where the health of populations is at risk, is key to meet these requirements.