The World Health Organization (WHO) will move forward with its plans to develop a set of standards and recommendations that can be adopted and adapted for the medical (care) planning of mass gatherings following the conclusion of a successful two-day consultation that was held at the WHO office in Lyon, France, in November 2023, to explore the proposal further.

A technical working group will now be set up to develop and discuss an early draft of the model in the first half of 2024, with the Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) methodology of principles, standards and quality domains forming the bedrock of the work. This will then be followed by further consultations and testing of the agreed model with key stakeholders.

The workshop, which was organized by the WHO EMT and other Rapid Response Capacities Unit and Border Health and Mass Gatherings Unit, came on the back of work done in 2022 – including activities delivered as part of the Sport for Health partnership with the Ministry of Public Health of Qatar – which had identified that there are no minimum standards for the medical planning of mass gatherings, and that the EMT methodology, with adaptions, is well suited to respond to this need.

In attendance to discuss this proposal and share their experiences, insights, approaches and real-life challenges with the medical care planning of mass gatherings were senior professionals and leaders from 14 Member States representing all six WHO regions, representatives from international organizations including the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), and experts from WHO Collaborating Centres on Mass Gatherings and Health Security.

This unique gathering of experts from across borders, specialisms, and sectors “underscored the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of the task at hand”, Dr Nedret Emiroglu, Director of Country Readiness Strengthening in the WHO Health Emergency Program, reflected in her opening remarks.

As complex as the challenge is in developing standards for the medical care planning of mass gatherings – one of the central themes emerging from the workshop – there was consensus that applying the EMT methodology will deliver a model adaptable to diverse contexts and across different types of mass gathering events.

As one of the participants, Professor Pierre Carli, Chairman of the Hospital Emergency National Council in France, noted: “We have objectives. We have what countries have done and already do. And from that we can identify the missing tools in a toolbox that are needed. And the EMT initiative is clearly a good toolbox.”

Wrapping up the workshop, Dr Flavio Salio, Network Leader of WHO’s Emergency Medical Teams Initiative, said: “I am confident that we can address the challenges and complexities posed by all types of events and contexts so that what we eventually develop as a model will be useful for every country.”

https://www.who.int/news/item/26-12-2023-who-to-progress-plans-to-develop-a-model-for-the-medical-(care)-planning-of-mass-gatherings