VIDEO - The Essential Ingredients for Improving our Ability to Respond to a Health Crisis - Stefania Salmaso, ISS

Health experts gathered in Brussels on 2 December 2014 to discuss Health Crisis Prevention, Preparedness and Response. One of the key messages coming out of the conference was very clear: the international community was not well enough prepared to deal with an epidemic on the scale of the recent Ebola outbreak. During a panel discussion, participants looked at how to improve health systems to ensure that future epidemics are better contained. 

One of the panellists was Dr Stefania Salmaso, Director at the Italian National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion, a division of the Italian National Institute of Health. Dr Salmaso shared with participants a list of key points that she believes are essential to build resilient health systems and to be better prepared for future health crises “because the response to a crisis is not only of one actor, it must be a community response.”

1. Trust and confidence
2. Networking among health professionals
3. Develop instruments
4. Identify functions
5. Be flexible
6. Involve society
7. Be intersectoral
8. Invest in communication

In the following video, Dr Salmaso goes through the list, detailing each point.