WHO supports Mauritius in carrying out its second Joint External Evaluation of the International Health Regulation (IHR) capacities in November 2025. By volunteering for its second JEE, Mauritius has shown its strong commitment, foresight, leadership, and confidence in the process with the aim of safeguarding the population’s health. A wide range of participants, including key programme leads and technical experts from various departments were mobilized to contribute to both the self-assessment and the external evaluation.
With its extensive, high-quality human, veterinary, and environmental services, Mauritius has consistently demonstrated its ability to respond rapidly and effectively to multiple public health threats in the past. WHO is supporting the country in ensuring this strength is sustained and further advanced by fully leveraging the IHR (2005) to reinforce core capacities for responding to both known and emerging public health threats in the future. Mauritius as a Small Island Developing State faces unique vulnerabilities such as geographic isolation, limited human and financial resources, high dependence on travel and trade, and heightened exposure to climate-sensitive health threats such as vector-borne diseases and extreme weather events. These factors can rapidly amplify public health emergencies and disrupt essential services, as well as social and economic development, if the country has inadequate preparedness and readiness.
The JEE brings together a multidisciplinary team of international experts from WHO, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the Indian Ocean Commission, with the objective of assessing Mauritius’s core public health capacities under the IHR (2005). It also aims to strengthen the country’s preparedness and response to public health emergencies across 19 technical areas and 56 indicators under the four domains: Prevent, Detect, Respond, and IHR-related hazards and Points of Entry.
