Global InformationPublic health emergency of international concern information
A public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC /feɪk/ FAYK) is a formal declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of "an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response", formulated when a situation arises that is "serious, sudden, unusual, or unexpected", which "carries implications for public health beyond the affected state's national border" and "may require immediate international action".[1] Under the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR), states have a legal duty to respond promptly to a PHEIC.[2] The declaration is publicized by an IHR Emergency Committee (EC) of international experts,[3] which was developed following the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.[4]
From 2005 to the present, there have been seven PHEIC declarations: the 2009–2010 H1N1 (or swine flu) pandemic, the ongoing 2014 polio declaration, the 2013–2016 outbreak of Ebola in Western Africa, the 2015–2016 Zika virus epidemic,[5] the 2018–2020 Kivu Ebola epidemic,[6] the 2020–2023 declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic,[7] and the 2022–2023 mpox outbreak.[8] The recommendations are temporary and require reviews every three months.[1]
Automatically, SARS, smallpox, wild type poliomyelitis, and any new subtype of human influenza are considered as PHEICs and thus do not require an IHR decision to declare them as such.[9] A PHEIC is not only confined to infectious diseases, and may cover an emergency caused by exposure to a chemical agent or radioactive material.[10][11] It can be seen as an "alarm system", a "call to action", and "last resort" measure.[12][13]
- ^ a b WHO Q&A (19 June 2019). "International Health Regulations and Emergency Committees". WHO. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ Eccleston-Turner, Mark; McArdle, Scarlett (2020). "The law of responsibility and the World Health Organisation: a case study on the West African ebola outbreak". In Eccleston-Turner, Mark; Brassington, Iain (eds.). Infectious Diseases in the New Millennium: Legal and Ethical Challenges. Switzerland: Springer. pp. 89–110. ISBN 978-3-030-39818-7.
- ^ "Strengthening health security by implementing the International Health Regulations (2005); About IHR". WHO. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
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WHO18Oct2019was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Statement on the thirteenth meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic". www.who.int. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
- ^ "WHO Director-General declares the ongoing monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern". www.who.int. World Health Organization. 23 July 2022. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- ^ Mark A. Hall; David Orentlicher; Mary Anne Bobinski; Nicholas Bagley; I. Glenn Cohen (2018). "8. Public Health Law". Health Care Law and Ethics (9th ed.). New York: Wolters Kluwer. p. 908. ISBN 978-1-4548-8180-3.
- ^ Wilder-Smith, Annelies; Osman, Sarah (8 December 2020). "Public health emergencies of international concern: a historic overview". Journal of Travel Medicine. 27 (8). doi:10.1093/jtm/taaa227. ISSN 1195-1982. PMC 7798963. PMID 33284964.
- ^ Gostin, Lawrence O.; Katz, Rebecca (2017). "6. The International Health Regulations: the governing framework for global health security". In Halabi, Sam F.; Crowley, Jeffrey S.; Gostin, Lawrence Ogalthorpe (eds.). Global Management of Infectious Disease After Ebola. Oxford University Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0190604882. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ Rull, Monica; Kickbusch, Ilona; Lauer, Helen (8 December 2015). "Policy Debate | International Responses to Global Epidemics: Ebola and Beyond". International Development Policy. 6 (2). doi:10.4000/poldev.2178. ISSN 1663-9375.
- ^ Maxmen, Amy (23 January 2021). "Why did the world's pandemic warning system fail when COVID hit?". Nature. 589 (7843): 499–500. Bibcode:2021Natur.589..499M. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-00162-4. PMID 33500574. S2CID 231768830. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.