Joint external evaluation of the International Health Regulations (2005) core capacities of Thailand - Mission report: 31 October-4 November 2022

Overview

The Joint External Evaluation (JEE) team expresses its appreciation to Thailand for volunteering for a Joint Evaluation Exercise (JEE) – and for being the first country in the world to complete its second JEE. Thailand’s response to COVID-19 and its participation in the JEE and other global public health initiatives have consistently demonstrated political commitment, foresight, leadership and accountability at the heart of the Royal Thai government, all of which have been critical to building and maintaining Thailand’s core capacities under the International Health Regulations – IHR (2005).

Prior to this evaluation, 116 countries had completed a JEE using either the first or second edition of the JEE tool. The tool has since been revised into a third edition taking into account relevant lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies. In another leading move, Thailand is the first country to undertake a JEE using the new edition of the tool, in the 117th JEE process overall.

As more countries follow Thailand’s example and undertake a second evaluation with the revised JEE tool, it is expected that, despite their progress in implementing the IHR (2005), some scores may be lower than with previous editions of the tool. This should be interpreted with caution, and in light of the reason for revision. The third edition of the tool reflects the key lessons of the COVID-19 experience. What was previously thought to be sufficient capacity to prevent, detect and respond to a topical public health threat was in fact not enough. A lower capacity score using the third edition of the JEE tool therefore does not necessarily mean that country has lost capacity.

Any country that makes the effort to undergo the JEE process should be commended for its hard work, transparency and commitment to the shared goal of increasing global health security.