Public health and social measures
during health emergencies

How do public health and social measures (PHSM) work during health emergencies?

Public health and social measures (PHSM) refer to non-pharmaceutical interventions implemented by individuals, communities and governments to protect the health and well-being of communities affected by health emergencies. PHSM aim to  reduce the risk and scale of transmission of infectious diseases by reducing transmission-relevant exposures and/or making them safer. Examples of PHSM include hand washing, mask-wearing, physical distancing, school and business measures, modifications of mass gatherings and international travel and trade measures.

PHSM are often the first and sometimes the only intervention available at the onset of an outbreak when effective vaccines and therapeutics are not (yet) available or equitably distributed. PHSM play a critical role throughout the different stages of health emergencies and act in concert with medical countermeasures.

Recent health emergencies have revealed, however, that individuals and communities experienced unintended negative consequences of PHSM, including unemployment, interrupted education, domestic violence and slowed economic productivity. People living in vulnerable conditions disproportionately experienced these consequences, highlighting the critical importance of social protection policies and other mitigation measures. 

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the PHSM initiative was established in response to the Resolution WHA74.7 in which Member States called for a global framework to generate, monitor, compare and evaluate research and policies for PHSM and to assess their broader impact. The WHO PHSM initiative focuses on building a robust knowledge base about PHSM, enhancing comparability and quality of PHSM research and supporting equitable, systematic and evidence-informed decisions about PHSM. The initiative focuses on the four strategic areas:

1. Global monitoring and reviews of PHSM data and research to support countries in accessing and using multidisciplinary and context-specific knowledge about PHSM to strengthen understanding about PHSM effectiveness, unintended negative consequences and implementation strategies.
2. PHSM research methodology and capacity to support countries in conducting and contributing research using a harmonized conceptual understanding of PHSM and in methodological, legal, ethical and political challenges of PHSM research.
3. Equitable and context-specific PHSM decision-making to support countries in making risk-based, evidence-informed decisions about PHSM implementation while taking into account evolving contextual factors and unintended negative consequences of PHSM.
4. Systematic integration of PHSM into the existing leadership and governance into health emergency management plans, policies, financing, governance and leadership in all relevant sectors at national, subnational and local levels across the health emergency spectrum of action.