Building trust before measles arrives: how GOARN is helping Vanuatu prepare for the next outbreak

Port Vila, Vanuatu – A young mother rocks her baby in her arms with a radio playing in the background.  

A public service announcement about the measles catches her attention. She learns that a safe and effective vaccine can protect her baby from a highly contagious disease and help prevent it from spreading to others in her community. 

Will she bring her child to the vaccination clinic?  

The answer may seem straightforward. But across Vanuatu, families are making decisions like this every day – when to bring a child in for their next vaccination, how to get to the health facility, whether to trust the advice of a health worker, a church leader, a friend, or something they have seen online. 

In an outbreak, those small decisions can mean the difference between a contained cluster of cases and widespread community transmission. 

The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, or GOARN, is best known for deploying specialists during public health emergencies.  

In Vanuatu, however, Sera Ngeh was deployed for a different purpose: to support the Ministry of Health before a measles outbreak occurs.   

The public health specialist, the epidemiologist, the communicator 

Sera, a public health specialist and Australian applied epidemiologist trained at the Australian National University, and fluent in Bislama (the Ni-Vanuatu language), was deployed through GOARN at the request of Vanuatu's Ministry of Health, supported by WHO.  

There is no outbreak. No cases to investigate. And that is precisely the point.  

Instead, Sera spent her time listening and preparing. 

She met with ministry teams, health workers and partners to better understand attitudes towards immunization, identify concerns and gather community feedback.  

These insights shaped communication strategies designed to build trust in vaccines.  

"Preparedness is not just planning on paper," Sera says. "It is about making sure people are ready to act – and that they trust the people asking them to follow health advice."     

Photo: GOARN expert, Sera Ngeh with Vanuatu's Director for Public Health Services Dr Jenny Stephens during her deployment to provide risk communication and community engagement (RCCE support). Credit: WHO / Nancy Wong and Ministry of Health, Vanuatu

Elimination is not the end 

In September 2025, WHO verified that all 21 Pacific island countries and areas – including Vanuatu – had eliminated measles and rubella.  

"However, elimination is not the end − it is a call for continued action. For the Pacific, this verification highlights the need for sustained commitment to maintain adequate population immunity across all communities," said Dr Saia Ma'u Piukala, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.  

Vanuatu is taking that call seriously.  

As Director for Public Health Dr Jenny Stephen explains, "Vanuatu is a country with a lot of frequent flights, and the movement of people could increase the risk of importation, so we need to strengthen our preparedness before there's an outbreak in Vanuatu.” 

She added: “Risk communication and community engagement helps our communities get clear, trusted information early, rather than waiting for an outbreak. It also gives us a chance to strengthen the trust  our communities have in our Ministry, before any potential outbreak. That will make response actions much more timely and effective." 

Although measles has been eliminated in the Pacific, the virus remains a threat. In Vanuatu immunization gaps widened during the COVID-19 pandemic and misinformation reduced public confidence in vaccines. Preparing now means communities will be ready before the next case arrives.  

What one deployment changes 

Working closely with the Health Promotion Unit at the Ministry of Health in Vanuatu, Sera supported the development of communication materials for the upcoming measles campaign as well as strengthening coordination and planning between health promotion, immunization, and surveillance teams with key partners. 

She has also supported work to establish systems to track rumours and gather community feedback, which will help health authorities identify misinformation and community concerns early and respond with clear, evidence-based information.  

A measles preparedness and response simulation exercise, conducted by WHO in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other partners, was an opportunity to test key messages, emergency coordination mechanisms and roles and responsibilities during a potential outbreak. 

Together, these efforts are laying the foundations for a faster and more effective response should measles return.  

"The trust needed during an outbreak should be built before a case is confirmed," Sera says. "By the time measles enter a community, people should already know who to trust."  

Photo: A volunteer talking to a mother about immunization in Vanuatu. Credit: WHO / Bobby Shing 

Building capacity that lasts beyond the deployment 

"GOARN is an opportunity to contribute technical skills where they are needed, while working alongside national teams, WHO and partners," she says. 

"It also gives you a deeper appreciation of how preparedness works in practice, and the importance of flexibility, collaboration, cultural understanding and local leadership in public health emergencies." 

GOARN deployments do more than provide surge support. They strengthen local capacity, support country-led priorities, and leave behind knowledge that can be shared beyond a single mission. 

"In an outbreak response, you are running to catch up with the virus," Sera reflects. "In preparedness, you get to run ahead of it." 

Working alongside the Ministry of Health, she has helped develop a measles risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) package for Vanuatu.  

But the tools, templates and lessons developed in Vanuatu also strengthen preparedness in a region where the risk of measles remains only a flight away. 

Instead of headlines, there will be something far more valuable: parents who trust the information they receive, health workers equipped to act quickly, and communities ready to respond. 

Because long before measles arrives, protection begins with trust. 

Photo: A mother in the waiting area at the Erakor Dispensary, ready for her baby’s immunization. Credit: WHO / Bobby Shing