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International
Health Regulations Enter Into Force
New
opportunity to respond to international public health threats
 Geneva – The revised
International Health Regulations (IHR) enter into force on Friday, 15 June.
The Regulations consist of a comprehensive and tested set of rules and
procedures which will help to make the world more secure from threats to
global health. They were agreed by the World Health Assembly in 2005 and
represent a major step forward in international public health security.
The Regulations establish an
agreed framework of commitments and responsibilities for States and for WHO to invest in limiting the international spread of
epidemics and other public health emergencies while minimizing disruption to
travel, trade and economies. Under the revised IHR, States will be required
to report all events that could result in public health emergencies of
international concern, including those caused by chemical agents, radioactive
materials and contaminated food.
In the early 21st
Century, demographic, economic and environmental pressures have created a
unique combination of conditions that allow new and re-emerging infectious
diseases to spread as never before. The experience of recent decades shows
that no individual country can protect itself from diseases and other public
health threats. All countries are vulnerable to the spread of pathogens and
their economic, political and social impact.
The emergence of SARS in 2003 demonstrated as
no previous disease outbreak ever had how interconnected the world has become
and how rapidly a new disease can spread. This shared vulnerability has also
created a need for collective defences and for shared responsibility in
making these defences work. This is the underlying principle of the
International Health Regulations.
"SARS was a wake-up call for all of us.
It spread faster than we had predicted and was only contained through
intensive cooperation between countries which prevented this new disease from
gaining a foothold," said Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the
World Health Organization. "Today, the greatest threat to international
public health security would be an influenza
pandemic. The threat of a pandemic has not receded, but implementation of the
IHR will help the world to be better prepared for the possibility of a
pandemic."
The Regulations build on the recent
experience of WHO and its partners in responding to
and containing disease outbreaks. Recent experience shows that addressing
public health threats at their source is the most effective way to reduce
their potential to spread internationally. The Regulations will help to
ensure that outbreaks and other public health emergencies of international
concern are detected and investigated more rapidly and that collective
international action is taken to support affected States to contain the
emergency, save lives and prevent its spread.
WHO has already developed and built an
improved events management system to manage potential public health
emergencies. WHO has also built strategic operations centres at its Geneva
Headquarters and in Regional Offices around the world, which are available
round-the-clock to manage emergencies. WHO has also been working with its
partners to strengthen the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network
(GOARN), which brings together experts from around the world to respond to
disease outbreaks.
"Implementing the IHR is a collective
responsibility and depends on the capacity of all countries to fulfil the new
requirements," said Dr David Heymann, WHO
Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases. "WHO will help
countries to strengthen the necessary capacities to fully implement the Regulations. This is our responsibility and we expect that
the entire international community is committed to the same goal of improving
international public health security."
Link: International
Health Regulations
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