Regional collaboration for public health preparedness in mass gatherings: Lessons from the GCC region and recommendations

Mass gatherings convene thousands to millions of individuals within limited spaces, creating complex public health challenges with the potential for rapid cross-border transmission of infectious diseases and other health threats. The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regularly host some of the world’s largest religious, sporting, and cultural events, which demand robust preparedness and coordinated health security measures. Given the region’s extensive interconnectivity through travel, trade and social networks, a public health event arising in one Member State can quickly have implications across the entire region. This interdependence highlights the necessity of a joint, regionally coordinated approach to early detection, risk assessment and timely response. This narrative review describes the collective experience of the six GCC health authorities, under the coordination of the Gulf Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Gulf CDC), in setting up a regional system to identify key threats and share information related to them between 2022 and 2025. Drawing on lessons learned from key events, such as the FIFA World Cup 2022 and the annual Hajj pilgrimages, it identifies what worked well and operational challenges encountered in cross-border collaboration for mass gatherings. This review further proposes evidence-based recommendations to enhance information sharing, institutionalize coordination mechanisms and advance the development of a unified regional framework for the management of cross-border mass-gathering health risks in the GCC and other regions.