WHO’s Exercise Polaris II: Global Team Tests Readiness for a Major Disease Outbreak

The World Health Organization recently completed Exercise Polaris II, a two-day, high-level drill that imagined a new, fictional bacteria spreading across the world. Held on April 22 and 23, the simulation brought together 26 countries and territories, 600 health emergency experts, and more than 25 partners. The goal was to help nations test their pandemic and major health emergency preparedness, including how they activate emergency teams, share information, and coordinate with each other, partners, and WHO.

Building on the first Polaris exercise from April 2025—which focused on a fictional virus—each country in this drill activated its own emergency coordination setup. They worked under real-world conditions to exchange information, align policies, and quickly scale up their emergency workforce.

“Exercise Polaris II showed what is possible when we act together. It demonstrated that global cooperation is not optional – it is essential,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “This is the purpose of the Global Health Emergency Corps: coordination across the emergency workforce, building trust, strengthening connections, and working as one across borders.”

The simulation put two key WHO frameworks into action: the Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC) framework and the National Health Emergency Alert and Response Framework. It also explored how AI-powered tools could help organize and plan the workforce.

The GHEC framework, published in June 2025, offers guidance on how countries can strengthen their health workforce to handle emergencies. It is built on the principles of sovereignty, equity, and solidarity. The framework improves teamwork between countries by supporting information sharing and making it easier to send regional and global emergency workers where they are needed.

The National Health Emergency Alert and Response Framework, published in October 2025, outlines the key tasks, coordination systems, and actions required for an effective response at local, regional, and national levels.

“By simulating the spread of a dangerous pathogen under real-life conditions, Exercise Polaris II helped us turn existing plans into action. It is not enough to have plans on paper – what matters is how they perform in practice,” said Edenilo Baltazar Barreira Filho, Director of the Public Health Emergencies Department, Ministry of Health, Brazil.

The exercise also gave participants a chance to practice coordinating technical support and surge help from more than 25 national, regional, and global health agencies and organizations. These included the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Médecins Sans Frontières, the Robert Koch Institute, UK-Med, UNICEF, and emergency networks like the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, the Emergency Medical Teams initiative, Standby Partners, and the International Association of National Public Health Institutes.

“Exercise Polaris II showed what it looks like when countries are prepared and ready to act together,” said Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme. “This reflects the spirit of the Global Health Emergency Corps: a well-organized, trained, coordinated and connected emergency workforce ready to respond wherever and whenever it is needed.”

The second edition of the exercise saw more countries join and work together through new networks, including the recently launched Health Emergency Leaders Network for Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Exercise Polaris II is part of HorizonX, WHO’s forward-looking, multi-year simulation exercise program. It provides a key platform to put emergency frameworks into practice under real-life conditions, making sure that collective readiness is not just a one-time effort but a continuous investment in global health security.

Note to editors:
Participating countries and territories, covering all WHO regions, included Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Georgia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo*, Libya, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Suriname, Thailand, and Yemen.

*All references to Kosovo on this page should be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).

About WHO:
Dedicated to the well-being of all people and guided by science, the World Health Organization leads and champions global efforts to give everyone, everywhere an equal chance at a safe and healthy life. We are the United Nations’ agency for health that connects nations, partners, and people on the front lines in 150+ locations – leading the world’s response to health emergencies, preventing disease, addressing the root causes of health issues, and expanding access to medicines and health care. Our mission is to promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable. “Together for health. Stand with science,” the theme of World Health Day 2026, marks a year-long campaign to highlight science as the foundation for protecting health and well-being worldwide.