World governments advance amendments to International Health Regulations

With more than 300 proposed amendments in hand, the Working Group of Amendments to the IHR undertook a fifth round of discussions over International Health Regulations 2005 last week, setting up a path to a consolidated proposal and further discussions. 

Proposed amendments considered by the 196 States Parties to the IHR, the European Union, and the Observer Delegation of Palestine included points of entry, public health measures, health documents, general provisions, and the emergency committee, among others. Together, they agreed further efforts should be made during the period between now and the next meeting of the international body in December. 

“We will continue work on a range of issues in the intersessional period before WGIHR6, as well as in early 2024. We are confident that we will be able to deliver on our mandate by the 77th World Health Assembly. The will is there,” Dr. Abdullah Assiri of Saudi Arabia, WGIHR co-chair, said.

Such discussions could include:

1. Proponents of certain amendments working to present outcomes for consideration by the drafting group
2. Intersessional briefings and facilitated intersessional consultations on articles, annexes, and topics discussed during this and previous meetings of the WGIHR, such as financing for public health emergencies and IHR implementation, and the Public Health Alert  –  PHEIC – pandemic continuum
3. Preparation of draft text proposals based on the discussions so far

“We have a very strong shared focus on our mandate to deliver a package of targeted amendments to the IHR and ensure that equity is reflected in the IHR,” Dr. Ashley Bloomfield of New Zealand, WGIHR co-chair, said. “It would be easy to make the IHR worse. It will be hard to make them better. We will focus on the hard task, making them better.”

The co-chairs agreed, however, that a package of amendments would be ready by January 2024, and the Working Group would continue to work between January and May 2024. Ultimately, the Director-General will submit any package of amendments agreed by the Working Group to the 77th Health Assembly for legally binding international law.