Global alert is used as the global

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematic ...

during times of international crises or threats to international security. Global Alerts are also issued by agencies such as the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

(WHO), when there is a perceived threat of an international

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of in ...

, (global

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...

), such as the threat of a

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...

, (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), pandemic during March 2003, due to its high contagion level which was rapidly spread by travelers sharing international flights. The global alert released by the World Health Organization regarding the SARS outbreak and its rapid contagion saved many lives: The alert about the disease, precautionary measures, and preventive measures to be taken by individuals, including specific hygiene information needed to arrest the spread of SARS was communicated instantly throughout the world.

Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network (GOARN)

GOARN is a system of cooperating institutions and networks that are constantly ready to respond to disease outbreaks. Established in 2000, it is a branch of the World Health Organization. GOARN's partners include the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

and divisions of the United Nations such as

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...

and

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...

. In addition to providing aid to areas affected by disease outbreaks, GOARN also works to standardize protocols for medical response systems.

References

Alert measurement systems {{Disaster-stub