Achieving compliance with the International Health Regulations by overseas territories of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Jane Jones,Esther L Hamblion,Mark Salter

doi:10.2471/blt.14.137828

Jane Jones, Esther L Hamblion + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.2471/blt.14.137828

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Journal: Bulletin of the World Health Organization	Publication Date: Sep 9, 2014
Citations: 10	License type: CC BY 3.0 IGO

Affiliation: Public Health England

Abstract

The 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR) came into force for all Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) in June 2007 and the deadline for achieving compliance was June 2012. The purpose of the IHR is to prevent, protect against, control – and provide a public health response to – international spread of disease. The territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and that of several other Member States, such as China, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and the United States of America, include overseas territories, which cover a total population of approximately 15 million people. Member States have a responsibility to ensure that all parts of their territory comply with the IHR. Since WHO has not provided specific guidance on compliance in the special circumstances of the overseas territories of Member States, compliance by these territories is an issue for self-assessment by Member States themselves. To date, no reports have been published on the assessment of IHR compliance in countries with overseas territories. We describe a gap analysis done in the United Kingdom to assess IHR compliance of its overseas territories. The findings and conclusions are broadly applicable to other countries with overseas territories which may have yet to assess their compliance with the IHR. Such assessments are needed to ensure compliance across all parts of a Member States’ territory and to increase global health security.

Highlights

The 2005 International Health Regulations [IHR (2005)] came into force in June 2007 for 194 countries, including all Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO).[1]
Each Member State has a responsibility to ensure that all parts of its territory comply with the IHR (2005)
The aims of this paper were: (i) to provide an overview of a gap analysis done to assess IHR compliance of the United Kingdom’s overseas territories and to identify appropriate measures that could be taken to ensure compliance by June 2014; and (ii) to discuss the policy implications of the findings of the gap analysis, which may be relevant to other countries with overseas territories

Summary

Introduction

The 2005 International Health Regulations [IHR (2005)] came into force in June 2007 for 194 countries, including all Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO).[1] The deadline for compliance was June 2012. Nine Member States, including China, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, have overseas territories with a total population of more than 15 million people (Table 1).[2,3] These territories fall under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the mainland yet are often self-governing and have their own legal and public health systems. Each Member State has a responsibility to ensure that all parts of its territory comply with the IHR (2005). It is of paramount importance that all Member States with overseas territories are aware of the situation regarding full compliance with the IHR (2005)

Objectives

Findings

Conclusion