2024-05-13 09:02:51
The Covid-19 pandemic, unprecedented in its intensity and duration, has re-examined ministerial capacities for anticipation, preparation and response to health crises. In order to learn lessons from this crisis, to strengthen and adapt the response to more frequent, long, complex and sometimes simultaneous national and international crises, the ministry in charge of health has decided to overhaul existing systems within a service which succeeds the current health monitoring and security sub-directorate.
The new “Health Crisis Center” (CCS) service, made up of a team of 70 agents and placed directly under the Director General of Health (DGS), aims to consolidate ministerial capacities in terms of anticipation, preparation and management of alerts and crises, while restructuring the ministerial crisis organization.
The CCS relies on the expertise and action capacities of other entities of the DGS and central administration directorates, as well as on the skills of health agencies, regional health agencies, learned societies, professionals health and more generally of all health security partners. The operational center for regulation and response to health and social emergencies (CORRUSS) is strengthened and remains at the heart of the response system.
Better anticipate risks for more effective crisis preparation
Operational and effective management of alerts and health emergencies is inseparable from crisis preparation which is based on the development of plans, doctrines, risk maps and procedures. It is also based on a better definition of response means and a clearly identified chain of command.
Within the CCS, the crisis preparation center ensures upstream preparation for exceptional health situations, which is based in particular on the ORSAN system, an integrated framework for preparation and response of the health system. It is linked to doctrine and planning work and the ORSEC system managed by the prefects.
Risk anticipation integrates efficient monitoring systems and effective communication with all partners, for situations requiring it:
Epidemic risks, with the emergence or re-emergence of infectious pathogens in a context of climate change and globalization of trade;
Environmental risks, with the increase in extreme climatic phenomena in particular;
Malicious risks, with the preparation of the health system to manage an influx of victims;
An evolution of the ministerial organization to strengthen the transversality of actions
The health crisis center has a more direct positioning with the authorities, allowing it to respond to the issues of political responsibility and interministerial positioning but also to mobilize response resources more quickly in the event of a crisis.
The creation of a strategic committee for preparing for health crises under the chairmanship of the Minister responsible for health also makes it possible to ensure high-level validation of the lists of risks and threats requiring specific preparation, adapted response strategies, lessons from feedback and the overall action plan of social ministries.
The new functional organization chart, with the increase in the number of specific units and the creation of a dedicated management support office, finally guarantees a flexible and robust organization, following action modalities contractualized with all of the partners (operators, agencies, management, etc.).
Ensure and maintain a high level of training for all stakeholders
The CCS also has a new entity dedicated toteam animationto the formationto exercises and to feedback. It offers high-level training in health crisis management internally at the ministry, within regional health agencies, in health agencies, but also to all health professionals mobilized in the event of a crisis.
The continuous improvement process is reinforced by the systematization of feedback and crisis exercises (cyber risk, preparation for major events, etc.). L’animation of an internal pool of volunteerstransversal to all central departments, allows the appropriation of doctrines, procedures and tools, in order to ensure permanent preparation of the actors.
The reinforced CORRUSS operational center
Within the CCS, CORRUSS remains at the heart of the crisis management system and its workforce is consolidated. Made up of a multidisciplinary team bringing together doctors, pharmacists, public health engineers, epidemiologists, crisis managers and health executives, CORRUSS is mobilized when a report of a health or environmental event is intended to be shared with national health authorities. or even international or when a health situation, sometimes exceptional, requires an coordinated response at national scale.
It thus ensures, with the support of all CCS agents, monitoring and operational response to health alerts and emergencies. 24h / 24 and 7j / 7as well as monitoring international health risks to ensure a response to any health alert or emergency.
CORRUSS writes every evening a summary bulletin daily reports and alerts received during the day, intended for health authorities, the minister and his teams. Depending on the estimated impact of the alert, it has numerous tools and action mechanisms to respond to it, such as the dissemination of instructions to ARS or health agencies, messages to health professionals and establishments.
The enhanced capacity of the operational center to mobilize a vast network of expertise (agencies, research and analysis laboratories, etc.) is valuable in enabling it to respond to any type of situation: from epidemics of infectious diseases to stock shortages of health products, from serious adverse events to environmental health alerts or even to food alerts.
Multiple levers of action in the event of an emergency
Faced with an alert, the health crisis center can rely on all of the ministry’s resourcesfrom the health reserve to strategic stocks of health products through the various information systems allowing the identification and monitoring of victims.
Additional management measures may also be taken during the health safety meeting (RSS) chaired by the DGS every week in the presence of the minister’s office and health agencies. This meeting is essential to ensure the sharing of information, decide collectively on the actions to be taken and ensure that they are properly implemented to control the event.
A graduated organization according to the alert level
The CCS has action levers adapted and proportionate to the situation, via the graduated organization of its operational center:
Level 1 – operational center on operational watch for day-to-day management (health reports, pre-alerts and alerts);
Level 2 – operational center in reinforced coordination with a team dedicated to the management of an event having a significant health impact (such as support for Ukraine);
Level 3 – operational center in task force mode faced with an exceptional alert likely to have a significant health impact and/or for which the management frameworks are not completely established (international epidemic of the Mpox type);
Level 4 – activation of the health crisis center in crisis mode for exceptional health situations likely to have a major health impact (pandemic).
Ability to project and act internationally
The health crisis center is also the correspondent of the World Health Organization on possible international health threats. Its participation in various European and international bodies, in line with France’s commitments, is reinforced.
It continues to carry out, in conjunction with the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, missions to protect French nationals abroad or to deploy international medical aid, in particular.
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