Customizing health security preparedness activities in Sub-Saharan Africa : leveraging political context to enhance IHR implementation

The International Health Regulations (IHR) continue to be one of the driving forces behind health security preparedness in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). While progress has been made, there is still much work to do for these nations to meet IHR standards. Policy implementation and development activities tend to employ “best practices” with little emphasis on the institutional factors (e.g., cultural, social, and political) that would sustain them. This article will discuss the results of a mixed-methods study on relationships between state capacity proxies and global health security preparedness capacities. The conclusion being that health strengthening activities for preparedness should consider political, social, and economic context to enhance sustainability.