Methods and tools for rapid risk assessments for acute public health emergencies

Public Health Emergencies can arise from chemical, biological, and radio-nuclear (CBRN) and natural or man-made environmental hazards. These events can threaten human health, especially with certain biological hazards. Therefore, a significant role of public health agencies is to early-detect, promptly assess, evaluate, and communicate the risk to decision-makers for preventative or responsive actions. Although rapid risk assessment (RRA) for acute public health events has been in practice for decades, there is still potential to standardize and improve its process and outputs by harnessing new opportunities, especially with digitalization and cross-sector collaboration. In this article, we present an overview of the RRA processes, methods, and tools described by ten public health agencies and groups at an international workshop on 6-7 June 2023. This article also presents challenges, opportunities, and recommendations for enhancing the RRA efficiency and increasing knowledge about RRA processes.