Guidance for Health Risk Assessment at Recurrent Mass Gatherings: The Jeddah Tool Framework

Abstract

A wide range of natural and man-made hazards increases the health risks at mass gatherings (MGs). Building on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (H-EDRM) framework to strengthen preparedness, response, and recovery from health emergencies in the communities and emergency-prone settings, such as MGs. The Jeddah tool is derived from the H-EDRM framework as an all-hazard MG risk assessment tool, which provides a benchmark for monitoring progress made in capacity strengthening over a given period for recurrent MGs. Additionally, it introduces a reputational risk assessment domain to complement vulnerability and capacity assessment matrixes. This paper describes the key elements of the Jeddah tool to improve the understanding of health risk assessment at MGs in the overarching contexts of health emergencies and disaster risk reduction, in line with international goals.

Reliability and Validity of Persian Version of WHO Mass Gathering COVID-19 Risk Assessment Tool- Generic Events in Iranian Population

“…The Jeddah tool determines risks in hazards and includes hazard identification and prioritization, susceptibility assessment matrix, capacity assessment matrix, reputational risk, and finally health risk assessment. Some changes were made to the tool considering feedback from WHO and global experts, and it was validated by several mass gathering risk assessments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (9,10). According to this tool, the risk of contracting COVID-19 was very high during the Hajj; therefore, a significant decrease in the number of pilgrims especially preventing foreign pilgrims and individuals with high risk to participate in Hajj 2020 was recommended along with other measures (11).…”

Healthcare policies, precautionary measures and outcomes of mass gathering events in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: Expedited review

“…Likewise, the Saudi health authorities developed and validated two assessment tools for MG risk assessment during the pandemic. The Global Center of Mass Gatherings Medicine, following a comprehensive risk assessment using validated risk assessment tools "Jeddah Tool" [69] , [70] , [71] , a prediction model was developed to assess all potential risks and provide evidence-based strategic approaches to curb the risk of COVID-19 transmission during Hajj 2021 [72] . The “SALEM COVID-19 tool” was also introduced as a risk prediction model for health risks assessments in public place, which evaluates 17 factors that could lead to public health risks [73] , [74] .…”

Mass Gathering Medicine in Soccer Leagues: A Review and Creation of the SALEM Tool

“…For example, the GCMGM developed the Jeddah tool, based on the Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (H-EDRM) framework, for risk assessment of repeated MG events. The tools proved its usefulness in mitigating the risk of diseases during regularly occurring MG events [ 92 ].…”