- © 2007 Canadian Medical Association
Under new WHO regulations aimed at preventing the spread of infectious diseases, all 193 member states must report within 24 hours of assessment any disease or event that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern.
The new International Health Regulations (2005) were officially adopted on June 15, 2007, within the 2-year target set by the 58th World Health Assembly in May 2005. They replace the 1969 regulations, which only pertained to 3 diseases (cholera, plague and yellow fever) and did little to protect global health security during disease outbreaks, such as SARS, and disasters, such as Chernobyl. According to WHO, the new regulations are much broader and “cover existing, new and re-emerging diseases, including emergencies caused by non-infectious disease agents.” The aim is to ensure global health security by a collective response to local problems.
WHO Communications Adviser Gregory Härtl told CMAJ that the new regulations “cover any event that has a potential to constitute a public health emergency of international concern, and so include, for example, chemical events and/or foodborne events, which cause a public health risk that may be trans-border.”
Under the new regulations, member states must respond to the WHO's request for verification of information, irrespective of its source or origins. Member states are required to immediately assess their core capabilities, and strengthen the pertinent parts so that they can detect, diagnose, notify and adopt appropriate control and prevention measures. Member states must also designate airports, seaports and ground crossings, where diseases can enter or exit a country.
“With well-known international criteria now available for the identification and assessment of international public health threats, and the new requirement for national surveillance and response systems, the implementation of [the regulations] will make the world more transparent and better prepared to respond to public health threats, including the prevention of undue restrictions on travel or trade,” Härtl says.
“Given the emergence of infectious diseases like SARS, these regulations are substantially significant,” says Bikram Saha, assistant professor of medicine, Midnapore Medical College and Hospital, West Bengal, India. “However, the regulations should be implemented properly,” he told CMAJ.