Jordan Holds its First Tabletop Exercise to Develop

UNCLAS AMMAN 000159 SIPDIS STATE FOR OES, NEA, AND M/MED STATE PASS USAID FOR GLOBAL HEALTH USDA FOR APHIS GENEVA FOR WHO REPRESENTATIVE ROME PASS US MISSION FAO AIAG FOR WINN CAIRO ALSO FOR NAMRU-3 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO KFLU XF JO SUBJECT: Jordan Holds its First Tabletop Exercise to Develop Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan REF: A. Amman 69 ¶B. 07 Amman 5012 ¶1. (U) On January 7 and 8, the Government of Jordan (GoJ) held its first tabletop exercise to develop a pandemic influenza preparedness plan in Jordan. The Jerash Governorate hosted the workshop in Jerash city, 25 miles north of Amman. The GoJ already has a comprehensive avian influenza (AI) preparedness and prevention plan; however, this was the first planning exercise related to human pandemic preparedness. ¶2. (U) The Middle East Consortium on Infectious Disease Surveillance (MECIDS) funded the planning exercise, which was attended by 40 participants representing various sectors of government and nongovernmental organizations in Jordan, including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Interior. There was also one Palestinian participant representing MECIDS. The discussions focused on joint responses to an evolving pandemic emergency; identifying current gaps in preparedness; and, prioritizing actions to improve preparedness and response. The objective of the exercise was the development of an initial plan based on these priority actions. ¶3. (U) The tabletop exercise resulted in an initial action plan to improve response and preparedness capabilities. Three scenarios were developed corresponding to escalating World Health Organization (WHO) defined pandemic influenza phases 4, 5, and 6. NOTE: Phase 4 is defined as evidence of increased human to human transmission; phase 5 is defined as evidence of significant human to human transmission; and phase 6 is defined as efficient and sustained human to human transmission. END NOTE. For each scenario, key tasks and challenges were identified such as disease investigation, disease containment, response coordination, communications, disease mitigation, surge capacity, and allocation of scarce resources. Responsibilities and target timeframes were assigned to the various stakeholders to ensure the key tasks could be met. The planning group will reconvene at a later date to review and revise their pandemic preparedness plans. Visit Amman's Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman HALE