What is Health Emergency of International Concern

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak originating in China and reported to WHO on Dec 31, 2019, suggests that little has changed. The PHEIC declaration for COVID-19 occurred well after most public health experts had concluded that this outbreak posed a major international threat. At the first Emergency Committee meeting on Jan 22, 2020 (309 cases and six deaths reported in mainland China; five confirmed cases in four countries or territories), the Emergency Committee said it did not have key facts from China. It extended the meeting to the next day, when cases had risen to 571, with 17 deaths and ten cases in seven other countries or territories. Yet, the Emergency Committee could not achieve consensus, and the Director-General concluded that the outbreak was “an emergency in China, but it had not yet become a global health emergency

A public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) 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]

Between 2009 and 2022, there were seven PHEIC declarations: the 2009 H1N1 (or swine flu) pandemic, the 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 ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,[7] and the ongoing 2022–2023 monkeypox outbreak.[8] The recommendations are temporary and require reviews every three months.[1]

Automatically, SARS, smallpox, wild typepoliomyelitis, 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