Capacity requirements for international points of entry

Designated points of entry should have these capacities at all times.

• Access to medical and diagnostic staff and equipment.
• Access to staff and equipment for the recovery and transportation of ill travellers.
• Access to trained personnel for the inspection of aircraft or ships.
• A healthy environment for users of international airport or port facilities, including safe water and food, clean catering facilities and washrooms, sewage and waste disposal services and an inspection programme.
• Access to trained staff and vector control surveillance programmes (such as rats and mosquitoes).

Capacity required in an international public health emergency

Designed points of entry need to be able to respond to an international public health emergency such as a pandemic. They should have the capacity for:

• emergency response planning and coordination
• communication contact points for relevant airports and ports, public health authorities, and other agencies
• assessment and care for affected travellers, animals, and goods by establishing arrangements with medical and vet facilities for isolation and treatment
• space to interview suspect or affected people away from other travellers
• assessment and quarantine of suspect or affected travellers at facilities away from the international port or airport
• recommended control measures to disinsect, disinfect, and decontaminate baggage and other cargo
• entry and exit controls for arriving and departing passengers
• access to required equipment and protection gear for personnel to transfer travellers with infection and contamination.

Assessment tool for evaluating core capacity requirements

The World Health Organization has an assessment tool to help countries evaluate their core capacity requirements for international points of entry.

Assessment tool for core capacity requirements at designated airports, ports and ground crossings (International Health Regulations 2005) — World Health Organization.external link

Public health officers assess each point of entry annually to confirm the core capacities are being maintained.

The assessment includes:

• checking progress on any matters requiring improvements from the previous year’s verification
• undertaking training
• testing and exercising public health planning and contingency plans for emergency events
• maintaining stakeholder relationships – for example, through briefings and meetings.

The Ministry of Health completed the first Joint External Evaluation of IHR core capacities in 2018. The evaluation assessed New Zealand's ability to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats.

Joint External Evaluation report 2018 - Ministry of Healthexternal link

• Minimizing health risks at airports, ports and ground crossings — WHOexternal link
• Regulatory Airport Spatial Undertakings — Ministry of Transportexternal link