Algerian Radio
The World Health Organization (WHO) organized a two-day exercise titled "Polaris II" aimed at simulating a global outbreak of a dangerous fictional disease, featuring the participation of 26 countries and 600 experts, the UN agency announced in a communiqué yesterday, Monday.
The exercise was designed to test the preparedness of countries in facing "pandemics and other major health emergencies," the WHO specified.
Participants in the simulation were tasked with "implementing their emergency action coordination structures and working within a realistic environment, exchanging information, coordinating policies, and mobilizing personnel."
According to the organization, the participating countries represented all WHO regions. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that "global cooperation is not an option, but an absolute necessity."
In 2025, the WHO had already conducted similar two-day exercises.
During the "Polaris I" simulation, representatives from fifteen countries confronted a fictional virus named "mammoth pox," discovered in the Arctic permafrost.
