Emergency Preparedness and Response in Global Health and Humanitarian Situations, 9 credits

A Bachelor's degree or a professional degree equivalent to a Swedish Bachelor's degree of at least 180 credits. And proficiency in English equivalent to English B/English 6. To enter into this course, students must have passed An Introduction to Global Health, Global Burden of Disease and Health Systems and Policy in Practice. 

After the course, the student should be able to: 

• Describe different types of health crises and disasters in different contexts.  
• Evaluate the role of health systems and key stakeholders in preparedness, response, recovery, and learning.  
• Reflect on the concepts of hazards, exposures, vulnerabilities, and coping capacity in different health crises and disasters.  
• Analyze health system resilience and its applications in different settings. 
• Analyse information from different data sources to detect, monitor and respond to health crises and disasters. 
• Assess risks and needs to prioritize interventions to meet vital public health needs.  
• Reflect on ethical dilemmas in health crises when resources are limited.  
• Apply key principles and steps in outbreak investigations and response.  
• Explain key principles of risk communication and community engagement during health crises. 

In this elective course, students learn how to contribute to global efforts in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from health crises and disasters. The course covers a variety of health crises, such as natural disasters, epidemics, and conflicts, and their impact on health systems. Students will explore strategies for preventing, reducing, and managing the consequences of these events, including planning and implementing public health interventions based on risk and needs assessments. 

Students will also learn key concepts such as hazards, exposures, vulnerabilities, and coping capacity, and how these factors determine whether an event escalates into a disaster. The course explores health system resilience and its role in enabling systems to recover and adapt for future crises. Real-world case studies will guide students in analysing how data is used to detect, monitor, and respond to health emergencies. 

The course includes practical training in decision-making during crises with limited resources and incomplete information. Students will engage with ethical dilemmas, such as prioritising limited resources to meet public health needs. Topics like mass casualty triage, outbreak investigations, and risk communication will be covered and applied to real-world scenarios, equipping students to address key challenges in emergency preparedness and response. 

The teaching methods include interactive lectures, simulations, practical exercises, case studies, discussion seminars, and individual and group assignments. 

The course will be examined in an individual assignment graded as fail, pass, or pass with distinction. The course also includes compulsory parts where active participation is required. The students must fulfil all the established criteria for the compulsory elements to pass the course. 

Compulsory participation
Participation in group and individual projects with written submissions, presentations and discussion in seminars, and in simulations, practical exercises and/or site visits is compulsory.

The examiner assesses if, and in that case how, absence from compulsory educational elements can be compensated for. Before the student has participated in the compulsory educational elements or compensated the absence in accordance with the examiner's instructions, the final course results will not be reported. Absence from a compulsory educational component may imply that the student cannot compensate for the missed compulsory educational element until the next time the course is given.

Limitation of number of occasions to write the exam
Students who have not passed the regular examination are entitled to participate in five more examinations. If the student has not passed the exam after four participations, he/she is encouraged to visit the study advisor. If the student has failed six examinations/tests, no additional examination or new admission is provided. The number of times that the student has participated in one and the same examination is regarded as an examination session. Submission of a blank examination is also regarded as an examination. An examination for which the student registered but did not participate in will not be counted as an examination.

If there are special grounds, or a need for adaptation for a student with a disability, the examiner may decide to deviate from the syllabus's regulations on the examination form, the number of examination opportunities, the possibility of supplementation or exemptions from the compulsory section/s of the course etc. Content and learning outcomes as well as the level of expected skills, knowledge and abilities may not be changed, removed or reduced.

Examination will be provided during a time of two years after a possible cancellation of the course. Examination can take place according to an earlier literature list during a time of one year after the date when a major renewal of the literature list has been made.

The course language is English.

Course evaluation is carried out according to the guidelines that are established by the Committee for Higher Education.