Global Health Security Preparedness and Response: An Analysis of the Relationship between Joint External Evaluation Scores and COVID-19 Response Performance
Objectives The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance and complexity of a country’s ability to effectively respond. The Joint External Evaluation (JEE) assessment was launched in 2016 to assess a country’s ability to prevent, detect and respond to public health emergencies. We examined whe...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2021-12-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e050052.full |
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| author | Luis Hernandez Laura Nguyen Alexia Couture Sharanya Krishnan Mays Shamout Jennifer Beaver Arianna Gomez Lopez Cassidy Whitson Leah Dick Ashley Lauren Greiner Sydney Morgan Brown |
| author_facet | Luis Hernandez Laura Nguyen Alexia Couture Sharanya Krishnan Mays Shamout Jennifer Beaver Arianna Gomez Lopez Cassidy Whitson Leah Dick Ashley Lauren Greiner Sydney Morgan Brown |
| author_sort | Luis Hernandez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance and complexity of a country’s ability to effectively respond. The Joint External Evaluation (JEE) assessment was launched in 2016 to assess a country’s ability to prevent, detect and respond to public health emergencies. We examined whether JEE indicators could be used to predict a country’s COVID-19 response performance to tailor a country’s support more effectively.Design From April to August 2020, we conducted interviews with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention country offices that requested COVID-19 support and previously completed the JEE (version 1.0). We used an assessment tool, the ‘Emergency Response Capacity Tool’ (ERCT), to assess COVID-19 response performance. We analysed 28 ERCT indicators aligned with eight JEE indicators to assess concordance and discordance using strict agreement and weighted kappa statistics. Generalised estimating equation (GEE) models were used to generate predicted probabilities for ERCT scores using JEE scores as the independent model variable.Results Twenty-three countries met inclusion criteria. Of the 163 indicators analysed, 42.3% of JEE and ERCT scores were in agreement (p value=0.02). The JEE indicator with the highest agreement (62%) was ‘Emergency Operations Center (EOC) operating procedures and plans’, while the lowest (16%) was ‘capacity to activate emergency operations’. Findings were consistent with weighted kappa statistics. In the GEE model, EOC operating procedures and plans had the highest predicted probability (0.86), while indicators concerning response strategy and coordination had the lowest (≤0.5).Conclusions Overall, there was low agreement between JEE scores and COVID-19 response performance, with JEE scores often trending higher. JEE indicators concerning coordination and operations were least predictive of COVID-19 response performance, underscoring the importance of not inferring country response readiness from JEE scores alone. More in-depth country-specific investigations are likely needed to accurately estimate response capacity and tailor countries’ global health security activities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8fdfbb4408e14a8ea04bc5c6ee200fa7 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-8fdfbb4408e14a8ea04bc5c6ee200fa72025-08-20T02:20:22ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552021-12-01111210.1136/bmjopen-2021-050052Global Health Security Preparedness and Response: An Analysis of the Relationship between Joint External Evaluation Scores and COVID-19 Response PerformanceLuis Hernandez0Laura Nguyen1Alexia Couture2Sharanya Krishnan3Mays Shamout4Jennifer Beaver5Arianna Gomez Lopez6Cassidy Whitson7Leah Dick8Ashley Lauren Greiner9Sydney Morgan Brown10COVID-19 International Task Force Emergency Response Capacity Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USACOVID-19 International Task Force Emergency Response Capacity Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USACOVID-19 International Task Force Emergency Response Capacity Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USACOVID-19 International Task Force Emergency Response Capacity Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USACOVID-19 International Task Force Emergency Response Capacity Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USACOVID-19 International Task Force Emergency Response Capacity Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USACOVID-19 International Task Force Emergency Response Capacity Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USACOVID-19 International Task Force Emergency Response Capacity Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USADivision of Global Health Protection, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USADivision of Global Health Protection, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USAGlobal Health Security Agenda Team, Division of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USAObjectives The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance and complexity of a country’s ability to effectively respond. The Joint External Evaluation (JEE) assessment was launched in 2016 to assess a country’s ability to prevent, detect and respond to public health emergencies. We examined whether JEE indicators could be used to predict a country’s COVID-19 response performance to tailor a country’s support more effectively.Design From April to August 2020, we conducted interviews with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention country offices that requested COVID-19 support and previously completed the JEE (version 1.0). We used an assessment tool, the ‘Emergency Response Capacity Tool’ (ERCT), to assess COVID-19 response performance. We analysed 28 ERCT indicators aligned with eight JEE indicators to assess concordance and discordance using strict agreement and weighted kappa statistics. Generalised estimating equation (GEE) models were used to generate predicted probabilities for ERCT scores using JEE scores as the independent model variable.Results Twenty-three countries met inclusion criteria. Of the 163 indicators analysed, 42.3% of JEE and ERCT scores were in agreement (p value=0.02). The JEE indicator with the highest agreement (62%) was ‘Emergency Operations Center (EOC) operating procedures and plans’, while the lowest (16%) was ‘capacity to activate emergency operations’. Findings were consistent with weighted kappa statistics. In the GEE model, EOC operating procedures and plans had the highest predicted probability (0.86), while indicators concerning response strategy and coordination had the lowest (≤0.5).Conclusions Overall, there was low agreement between JEE scores and COVID-19 response performance, with JEE scores often trending higher. JEE indicators concerning coordination and operations were least predictive of COVID-19 response performance, underscoring the importance of not inferring country response readiness from JEE scores alone. More in-depth country-specific investigations are likely needed to accurately estimate response capacity and tailor countries’ global health security activities.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e050052.full |
| spellingShingle | Luis Hernandez Laura Nguyen Alexia Couture Sharanya Krishnan Mays Shamout Jennifer Beaver Arianna Gomez Lopez Cassidy Whitson Leah Dick Ashley Lauren Greiner Sydney Morgan Brown Global Health Security Preparedness and Response: An Analysis of the Relationship between Joint External Evaluation Scores and COVID-19 Response Performance BMJ Open |
| title | Global Health Security Preparedness and Response: An Analysis of the Relationship between Joint External Evaluation Scores and COVID-19 Response Performance |
| title_full | Global Health Security Preparedness and Response: An Analysis of the Relationship between Joint External Evaluation Scores and COVID-19 Response Performance |
| title_fullStr | Global Health Security Preparedness and Response: An Analysis of the Relationship between Joint External Evaluation Scores and COVID-19 Response Performance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Global Health Security Preparedness and Response: An Analysis of the Relationship between Joint External Evaluation Scores and COVID-19 Response Performance |
| title_short | Global Health Security Preparedness and Response: An Analysis of the Relationship between Joint External Evaluation Scores and COVID-19 Response Performance |
| title_sort | global health security preparedness and response an analysis of the relationship between joint external evaluation scores and covid 19 response performance |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e050052.full |
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