Strengthening national emergency preparedness: Maldives participates in Virtual Simulation Exercise (SimEx) for Emergency Response held by WHO

The simulation exercise was held to orient country focal points to effectively establish, expand and operate Health Emergency Operation Centers (HEOCs) for emergency response integrating operational support and logistics and Emergency Medical Team  Five participants from Ministry of Health Maldives attended the exercise, together with WHO’s National Professional Officer for Health Emergencies.  

The objective of the SimEx was to teach participants to effectively expand and scale-up HEOC operations (integrating incident management system, and coordination with National Disaster Management Authority and other Emergency Operations Centers), provide an understanding of the practical use of the HEOC tool kit, identify operational support and logistics requirements for HEOC expansion, preparedness for outbreaks, management of donated supplies, maintaining COVID-19 supply chain, and coordinate and manage timely deployments of national and international emergency medical teams through HEOC.

The simulation exercise was based on a fictional country called “Globalland” and participants were asked to play the role of the Ministry of Health, familiarizing themselves with the country context, concepts of HEOC, operations, logistics, support and coordination of the Health Surge Team. WHO created this exercise to test out the plans and capabilities in a realistic environment to gain in-depth experience, which can only be achieved through practice.

Participants from Ministry of Health brought their experience and expertise from the ongoing pandemic response in the Maldives with the support from WHO. The team worked together to conceptualize and plan the structure of the HEOC and the functions including planning for staff capacities, reporting formats, data systems, communications and financing the response.

The simulation exercise and experience has helped to identify gaps and areas for opportunity, which ultimately aids in assessing and improving Maldives readiness capacity, which will contribute to an effective and joint global response to any emergency.



Despite the deterrents caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO continues to effectively work with Member States through different platforms and modalities to improve their operational readiness and handle the initial impact of emergencies and subsequent recovery. In addition to capacity building, WHO’s work supports countries in meeting their own commitments under the International Health Regulations to build capacity to constructively handle any public health event of concern.