Global Health Security (GHS) Index, 2019

WHY IN NEWS?

According to the Global Health Security (GHS) Index, 2019, national health security is “fundamentally weak” around the world. The report gains significance in the context of the recent Coronavirus (COVID19) outbreak.

ABOUT THE INDEX

• The Global Health Security (GHS) Index, a report from the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Economist Intelligence Unit, was released in October 2019.
• The GHS Index is the first comprehensive assessment and benchmarking of health security and related capabilities across the 195 countries that make up the States Parties to the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005).
• The IHR, 2005 represents an agreement between 196 countries including all the World Health Organization (WHO) Member States to work together for global health security.
• The GHS Index assesses countries’ health security and capabilities across six categories, 34 indicators, and 85 sub-indicators. The six categories are as follow:
  1. Prevention
  2. Detection and Reporting
  3. Rapid Response
  4. Health System
  5. Compliance with International Norms
  6. Risk Environment
• The index measures countries’ capabilities from 0-100, with 100 representing the highest level of preparedness. The GHS Index scoring system includes three tiers.
• Low Scores: Countries that score between 0 and 33.3 are in the bottom tier.
• Moderate Scores: Countries that score between 33.4 and 66.6 are in the middle tier and
• High Scores: Countries that score between 66.7 and 100 are in the upper or “top” tier.
• Ranking of Different Countries
  • The US is the “most prepared” nation (scoring 83.5), with the UK (77.9), the Netherlands (75.6), Australia (75.5) and Canada (75.3) behind it. Thailand is ranked sixth in the Index — the highest ranking for an Asian country.
  • Much of Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Asia and Central and South America are described as “more prepared,” with scores between 66 and 34.3, while the majority of countries ranked “least prepared” are in Africa.
  • India is ranked 57th with a score of 46.5, falling in the middle tier.
  • North Korea (17.5), Somalia (16.6) and Equatorial Guinea (16.2) are listed in the index's bottom three.
  • China – which is at the centre of the recent coronavirus outbreak – is at the 51st place, scoring 48.2.

INDIA'S RESPONSES TO HEALTH EMERGENCIES

• Underprepared: The influenza A (H1N1) outbreaks since 2009 in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and other States have acutely underscored the need for better detection, awareness of symptoms and quarantining.
• Low Expenditure: Health expenditure by the government in India is less than 1.5% of Gross Domestic Product, which is low for a middle-income country.
• Availability of Health Professionals: India has a low availability of health professionals. According to the WHO, India has only 80 doctors per 1, 00,000 people.
• Impact of Climate Change: India’s health status is being worsened by climate shocks. An HSBC study of 67 countries ranks India as the most climate-vulnerable one because of the impact of severe temperature increases and declines in rainfalls.

Prelims Question

Q. Global Health Security (GHS) Index, 2019 which was recently in news was published by which among the following?
a)Nuclear Threat Initiative
b)The World Economic Forum
c)WHO
d)UNDP

Answer to the Prelims Question