Implementation Progress on IHR (2005) among WHO Member States

Abstract

It has been eight years since the International Health Regulations (2005) (hereinafter ＂IHR (2005)＂) enacted on June 15, 2007. During this period, the occurrence of several public health emergencies of international concern, including the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the 2012 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS) outbreak in Middle East countries, the 2013 H7N9 avian influenza outbreak, the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the 2015 MERS outbreak in South Korea, has constantly challenged the implementation of IHR (2005). This report summarized publications concerning the implementation of IHR (2005) made by the WHO Director-General and WHO Secretariat as well as speeches concerning the same issue made by the WHO Member States during the meetings of Committee A of the 61^(st)-67^(th) World Health Assembly. Five Member States addressed to the Assembly on the topic of IHR (2005) every time. On average, Member States within South-East Asia Regional Office(SEARO) engage on this topic the most, followed by Members States within Regional Office for the Americas(AMRO). Member States' reports on the topic were broadly categorized into six subject matters that were most commonly spoken about: applauding, affirming continuous cooperation, reporting progress, making suggestions, seeking assistance, and requesting extensions. Two-third of the WHO Member States have yet to meet the IHR core capacity requirements mainly because they need additional time and require external assistance and funding. Hence, the U.S. initiated the Global Health Security Agenda aimed to call for the global united action to assist low-and middle-income countries to improve their core capacity requirements.