The seventh global meeting of emergency medical teams opened in Addis Ababa on 3 November, bringing a gathering of health and emergency specialists to the World Health Organization’s African Region for the first time. It was scheduled for 3 to 5 November.
The Ethiopian government and the World Health Organization (WHO) co-hosted the opening. Before the meeting, WHO said more than 800 participants from over 100 countries were gathering, including government representatives, health professionals, researchers and humanitarian partners. Those figures were announced before the opening and are not a verified final attendance count.
The planned agenda focused on how countries can prepare teams before an emergency and work together when additional care is needed. Financing, quality standards, operational readiness and international cooperation were among the themes, within a wider strategy for emergency medical teams running to 2030.
What emergency medical teams do
Emergency medical teams bring together trained health professionals and operational staff to provide clinical care during disasters, outbreaks, conflicts and other emergencies. They support the health system of the affected country and work under national coordination. Teams can include doctors, nurses and people responsible for the equipment and logistics needed to deliver care.
Teams need staff available at short notice, transport for equipment and a way to finance deployments. Planning also covers infection prevention, patient referrals and health information so that responders can work with existing services.
On 2 November, Ethiopia’s national team led a full-scale simulation at the Addis Ababa field hospital and the regional emergency medical team training hub. The exercise was designed to test activation, deployment, logistics and communication, as well as the way government bodies and other responders divide responsibilities and work together.
Ethiopia’s classified team
Ethiopia’s national team received WHO international classification in September. It became the first civilian team in the WHO African Region to achieve the recognition, following the classification of a Senegalese military team. The Ethiopian team was classified as Type 1 Fixed.
The assessment covered areas including clinical services, logistics, infection prevention, sanitation and operational readiness. Classification measures a team against agreed standards; it should not be confused with a report of a new deployment or a guarantee of a particular outcome in an emergency.
The Ethiopian team has previously supported the response to a landslide in the Gamo Zone and emergency work related to Marburg virus disease. Its development involved Ethiopian health institutions and a range of partners, including WHO, UK-Med and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
A regional goal for 2030
In its pre-meeting statement, WHO said 30 countries in the WHO African Region were developing national emergency medical team capacity. The regional training hub in Addis Ababa supports training, simulation and the exchange of expertise, while the regional framework for 2026 to 2030 sets out a longer-term plan for nationally led teams.
Health ministers have committed to at least one functional national team in every member state in the region by 2030. The framework also sets milestones for 2028, including governance arrangements and integrated teams in at least 80% of member states, with at least half having begun or achieved progressive validation. These are targets, not a count of teams already in place.
Maintaining a team between emergencies is a separate challenge from assembling one during a crisis. The regional framework calls for dedicated financing, regular exercises and dependable logistics so that teams can keep their equipment and skills ready for future deployments.
The framework also aims for at least 80% of member states to have teams validated or classified against WHO standards by 2030. That is a separate target from the commitment to establish an operational team in every country, and does not mean either goal has already been reached.
Cross-border assistance requires practical arrangements for requesting, receiving and coordinating teams. The regional framework calls for agreements and joint exercises as part of that work. The Addis Ababa meeting was intended to provide a chance to discuss those preparations; its planned agenda should not be treated as evidence that new funding or operational commitments have already been agreed.
