Five months after developing the National Health Emergency Response Operations Plan (NHEROP), the Maldives convened its first validation workshop and tabletop exercise (TTX), testing the plan against a simulated public health emergency to strengthen preparedness and ensure agencies understand their roles and responsibilities during a response.
On 29–30 April 2026, the Ministry of Health and Health Protection Agency (HPA), together with the WHO Country Office for Maldives and technical experts from WHO SEARO, convened a two-day validation workshop and tabletop exercise (TTX) for the NHEROP. The event brought together emergency planners, health officials, and multi-sectoral partners to review the draft NHEROP and validate its operational arrangements through a simulated public health emergency scenario.
Developing a plan is only the first step; validating that it functions effectively during an emergency is equally important. In her opening remarks, WHO Representative to Maldives Ms Payden traced the country's emergency preparedness journey. WHO Maldives first supported the country's Health Emergency Operations Plan in 2017. COVID-19 and subsequent public health emergencies highlighted opportunities to strengthen coordination, inter-island logistics and multi-sectoral emergency response, reinforcing the need for a more robust national plan.
"The NHEROP before you today is not simply an update; it is a fundamentally stronger, more comprehensive plan, developed in line with WHO's global guidelines and rooted in Maldives' realities. It is a privilege to stand here, eight years later, and witness how far this country has come." — Ms Payden, WHO Representative to Maldives
Ms Payden acknowledged the HPA team for leading the plan development process with professionalism and dedication, completing the plan on time while simultaneously managing active outbreaks and day-to-day public health responsibilities.
She also recognized Dr Sourabh Sinha from WHO SEARO's Emergency Management and Operations unit and Dr Kumar Rajan from the Health Information Management unit; both present in Malé for the workshop; who provided technical support throughout the development of the NHEROP.
The strength of the NHEROP lies not only in its governance structures and response protocols, but also in the capacity of those responsible for implementing them during an emergency. The tabletop exercise, held from the afternoon of Day 1 through the morning of Day 2, required participants to make real-time decisions, test coordination across agencies, and identify gaps while there is still an opportunity to strengthen the plan.
Maldives' geography makes coordinated emergency response uniquely challenging. With 1,190 islands (187 inhabited spread across 90,000 square kilometres of ocean) responding to emergencies requires complex coordination across distance, logistics and communication networks. The TTX scenarios were designed to reflect these realities, testing not only technical response protocols but also the decision-making and inter-agency coordination that underpin an effective and coordinated emergency response.
Key outcomes
- Draft NHEROP reviewed and validated by multi-sectoral stakeholders from health, disaster management, security and other relevant sectors.
- Tabletop exercises completed, identifying strengths, lessons learned and priority actions for further refinement of the plan.
- Consensus reached on governance structures, agency roles and response activation protocols under the NHEROP framework.
- Agreed next steps for finalization of the NHEROP and progression towards high-level endorsement.
- Technical input from WHO SEARO's Emergency Management and Operations and Health Information Management units incorporated into the validation process.
What comes next
Findings and recommendations from the tabletop exercise will be incorporated into the final NHEROP through revisions by the technical working group over the coming weeks. Once finalized and endorsed, the NHEROP will serve as the national operational framework for coordinating health emergency preparedness and response in the Maldives.
WHO remains committed to supporting the Government of Maldives in strengthening national capacities to prepare for, detect, respond to and recover from public health emergencies.