Following the successful launch of the EOC-NET European Regional Forum in December 2024, WHO/Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) jointly convened the Annual Meeting of the Forum from 17-19 November 2025 at the WHO Academy in Lyon, France.
The meeting brought together national Public Health Emergency Operation Centre (PHEOC) focal points from across the WHO European Region (to date, 51 countries and territories) to advance coordination, learning and strategic planning for emergency preparedness and response. PHEOC are at the heart of effective health emergency management and ensure countries can detect, respond to and recover from emergencies in a coordinated and timely manner.
A short simulation exercise (SimEx), jointly designed by WHO/Europe, ECDC and the WHO Academy, also enabled participants to practice activating and operating a PHEOC during a fast-moving emergency scenario. Participants were confronted with a rapidly evolving emergency following a magnitude 5.2 earthquake, subsequent infrastructure disruption and a growing public health threat characterized by rising acute watery diarrhoea cases. The SimEx teams practiced activating and running a PHEOC under pressure, integrating an incident management system, enhancing information management and producing key decision-making products.