Five Portuguese-speaking African countries have developed national roadmaps to establish and strengthen emergency medical teams capable of rapid deployment during disease outbreaks, disasters and other health emergencies.
Representatives from Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe developed the roadmaps during the first regional Emergency Medical Team workshop specifically designed for Portuguese-speaking African countries. Organized by WHO, with support from the Government of China and the Macao Special Administrative Region, the workshop addressed a longstanding gap in access to specialized emergency preparedness and response capacity-building opportunities tailored to the Portuguese-speaking context in Africa.
WHO specialists collaborated with country delegations to assess existing capacities, identify operational gaps and define priority actions for building trained, equipped and coordinated national teams. The resulting roadmaps outline responsibilities and actions for the next 12 to 24 months, providing a foundation for sustained national action, continued WHO technical support and measurable progress towards operational readiness.
“A strong emergency response depends on national teams that can be mobilized quickly and operate effectively from the outset,” said Dr Marie-Roseline Darnycka Bélizaire, Regional Emergency Director for WHO in Africa. “This initiative is equipping Portuguese-speaking countries with the systems, skills and expertise to lead emergency responses nationally and deliver life-saving care when it is needed most.”
The WHO African Region records over 100 public health emergencies annually, ranging from disease outbreaks and climate-related disasters to humanitarian crises. While 27 countries are developing national emergency medical teams, only 12 have achieved operational readiness in line with WHO minimum standards. Progress among Portuguese-speaking countries has been partly constrained by limited access to specialized guidance and language barriers.
During the workshop, participants were introduced to WHO’s ten-step approach to developing national emergency medical teams and integrating them into existing health emergency response systems. Drawing on experiences from COVID-19, cholera, cyclones and other emergencies, each delegation examined the governance, financing, workforce, equipment, logistics and coordination arrangements required to establish a sustainable national team.
Participants also visited the WHO Emergency Medical Teams Training and Knowledge Hub in Addis Ababa, gaining practical insight into how multidisciplinary responders are trained and prepared for deployment. The hub maintains a roster of approximately 650 trained emergency responders, including 250 trained in 2026.
The workshop supports the implementation of the Regional Framework on Emergency Medical Teams, 2026–2030, adopted by African health ministers. The framework calls for every country in the region to have at least one functional national emergency medical team by 2030, marking a shift from relying on teams assembled during crises to maintaining permanent national capacities that are trained, tested and ready to deploy.
Support from the Government of China and the Macao Special Administrative Region has enabled WHO to begin closing an important capacity gap while strengthening cooperation and peer learning among Portuguese-speaking countries.
WHO will continue working with the participating countries to refine and implement their roadmaps, strengthen national coordination and expand practical and simulation-based training.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.
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