International Health Regulations
For more than a century, states have entered into agreements to prevent the international spread of disease. In 2005, the World Health Assembly adopted the revised International Health Regulations [IHR (2005)], a sweeping overhaul of previous agreements. The IHR (2005) entered into force in June 2007. The IHR (2005) require 194 State Parties, including all the Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO), to develop core capacities to detect, assess, report, and respond to public health threats.
The regulations place new obligations on countries to strengthen their capacities for public health surveillance and response, and to report any potential public health emergency that might affect other nations to WHO. The regulations cover health threats of any type (i.e., biological, chemical, radiological, nuclear, or other disasters) and any source. WHO gained new authorities to seek and share information, and new obligations to coordinate the international response to public health crises. Public and private sector partners are now working around the world to help countries achieve IHR-mandated core capacities by 2012.
Latest Research
February 09, 2011
Comparative Analysis of National Legislation supporting the International Health Regulations
In 2005, the World Health Organization adopted the revised International Health Regulations, or IHR (2005), to establish obligations for detecting and responding to public health
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February 09, 2011
The Revised International Health Regulations: A Framework for Global Pandemic Response
The 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak tested the revised International Health Regulations [IHR (2005)] robustly for the first time. The IHR (2005) contributed to swift international
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December 15, 2010
Comparative Analysis of National Legislation in Support of the International Health Regulations
Rebecca Katz and Sarah Kornblet examine legislation and implementation of IHR (2005) in federalist countries in Comparative Analysis of National Legislation in Support of the Revised
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May 13, 2010
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By
Rebecca Katz
A Pandemic Backlash
When a house is on fire, the first order of business is saving everyone inside. Few would accuse the fire department of overreacting by responding at once to every alarm. Maybe some
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July 01, 2009
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By
Eric Lief,
Vidal Seegobin
Mapping the United States Government Engagement in Global Public Health
This report represents an effort to map the United States government’s engagement in global health activities as a basis for analysis and to help decision makers understand the scope and
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