UN Health Assembly Approves New Regulations for Public Health Emergencies
New York, May 23 2005 12:00PM
Spurred on by outbreaks of communicable diseases over the past 30 years, especially avian flu and SARS recently, the
United Nations health agency’s policy-making body today adopted a new set of regulations governing responses from
Governments and international bodies to the appearance of emerging as well as old illnesses.
The International Health Regulations agreed on in 1969 were designed to monitor and control six serious infectious
diseases – cholera, plague, yellow fever, smallpox, relapsing fever and typhus. The new regulations also include such
diseases as polio and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and bind Governments to notify the World Health Organization
(WHO) of their occurrence, the agency said.
The regulations, scheduled to come into effect in two years for the 192 members of the World Health Assembly, also
include a matrix for countries to decide whether any other incidence constitutes a public health event of international
concern. Governments must decide if an outbreak is serious, unusual, or unexpected, measure the risk of international
spread and determine whether to impose international travel or trade restrictions.
Countries also have to assess their capacities to identify, verify and control public health events and upgrade those
capacities within a fixed timeframe.
“The new regulations bring disease control into the twenty-first century,” said Dr. Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, WHO Assistant
Director-General in charge of communicable diseases. “With this framework, we can now support the work of countries in
controlling outbreaks more effectively. The regulations provide WHO with new, clearly defined roles and responsibilities
as we help countries to respond to disease outbreaks.”
The capacities of WHO offices around the world will be strengthened and they, together with the Global Outbreak Alert
and Response Network (GOARN), a technical collaboration network of Governments and medical and humanitarian
non-governmental organizations (NGO), will continue to provide operational support to countries in identifying and
responding to disease outbreaks.
ENDS