{"id":55830,"date":"2025-10-03T21:04:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=55830"},"modified":"2025-10-04T14:54:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T09:24:30","slug":"amendment-in-international-health-regulations-ihr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/03-10-2025\/amendment-in-international-health-regulations-ihr","title":{"rendered":"Amendment in International Health Regulations (IHR)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recently, the amended International Health Regulations (IHR) officially entered into force, marking a historic milestone in global health governance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About International Health Regulations (IHR)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Historical Background:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>International Sanitary Conference (Paris, 1851): <\/strong>to address cholera spreading along European trade routes; focused on <strong>quarantine rules<\/strong> and <strong>information exchange;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>International Sanitary Regulations (1951): <\/strong>The establishment of the <strong>World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948<\/strong> eventually consolidated the fragmented conventions and treaties related to <strong>maritime health<\/strong> and <strong>aerial navigation<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>International Health Regulations (IHR), 1969: <\/strong>It narrowed its scope to <strong>three diseases<\/strong>: cholera, plague, and yellow fever.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vaccination certificates and quarantine rules remained central.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>IHR<\/strong> is a<strong> legally binding framework<\/strong> for 196 States Parties, including <strong>all 194 WHO Member States.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>IHR, 2005: <\/strong>The <strong>SARS outbreak of 2003<\/strong> exposed gaps in the older framework.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In response, the <strong>2005 revision<\/strong> expanded coverage to <strong>any public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).<\/strong> Key features included:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>24-hour notification of events to WHO;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Development of national \u2018core capacities\u2019;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Establishment of 24\/7 communication channels;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The latest amendments\u2014<strong>adopted by consensus<\/strong> at the <strong>77th World Health Assembly in 2024 <\/strong>that reflects lessons learned from COVID-19 and decades of evolving public health policy.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-04-2025\/world-health-day-2025\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-04-2025\/world-health-day-2025\">World Health Organisation (WHO)<\/a><\/strong> acts as the <strong>Secretariat of the IHR<\/strong>, facilitating coordination but not enforcing compliance. It provides technical guidance, alerts, and support during health emergencies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Amendment Process<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Article 55:<\/strong> It allows proposals from States Parties or the WHO Director-General.<br>1. Adoption requires a <strong>majority decision<\/strong> in the <strong>World Health Assembly (WHA)<\/strong>.Countries <strong>may reject or reserve provisions<\/strong> under<strong> Articles 61\u201362.<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Institutional Mechanisms:<\/strong><br>1. <strong>Emergency Committee (Article 48):<\/strong> It advises the WHO Director-General on whether an event qualifies as a PHEIC or a Pandemic Emergency, guiding temporary recommendations.<br>2. <strong>Review Committee (Article 50):<\/strong> It evaluates amendments, standing recommendations, and other technical questions.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Highlights in Recent Amendments&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Introduction of \u2018Pandemic Emergency\u2019 Classification: Pandemic Emergency<\/strong> applies when a communicable disease spreads widely across multiple States, <strong>overwhelms health systems<\/strong>, and causes <strong>major social and economic disruption<\/strong> requiring <strong>rapid, coordinated international action<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It goes beyond the existing <strong>Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)<\/strong>. The new classification enables:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Earlier international alerts;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stronger coordination among countries;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enhanced access to medical countermeasures;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Establishment of National IHR Authorities: <\/strong>The amendments mandate the creation of <strong>National IHR Authorities in each member country, <\/strong>to streamline implementation<strong>.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It aims to coordinate across ministries \u2014 including <strong>health, transport, trade, and security, u<\/strong>nlike the Focal Point (a communication hub)<strong>,<\/strong> to implement the IHR.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>For India: <\/strong>It means a <strong>formal designation by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare<\/strong>, supported by updated legislation, expanded disease surveillance, stronger laboratories, and safeguards for personal data during emergencies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Equity and Solidarity at the Core:<\/strong> The revised IHR emphasizes equity and solidarity, particularly in access to vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments. Provisions have been added to:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Strengthen financing mechanisms;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Promote fair distribution of medical products;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Support low- and middle-income countries during global health crises;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Monitoring and Evaluation: <\/strong>Compliance relies on <strong>Joint External Evaluations (JEE)<\/strong>, where international experts collaborate with national authorities to assess readiness in <strong>surveillance, labs, workforce, and communication<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>These reviews help countries identify weaknesses and investment priorities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/health\/new-definition-of-pandemic-emergency-enters-global-health-dictionary\/article70112634.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source: TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Recently, the amended International Health Regulations (IHR) officially entered into force, marking a historic milestone in global health governance.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Highlights in Recent Amendments\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Introduction of \u2018Pandemic Emergency\u2019 Classification: Pandemic Emergency applies when a communicable disease spreads widely across multiple States, overwhelms health systems, and causes major social and economic disruption requiring rapid, coordinated international action.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/03-10-2025\/amendment-in-international-health-regulations-ihr\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":55861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/10\/amendment-international-health-regulations.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55830"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55954,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55830\/revisions\/55954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}