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WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30. It is related to the Wuhan coronavirus. What does this mean for us?
- The WHO Director General has declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). However, he insists that he still believes that China will deal with the epidemic
- PHEIC was developed by WHO experts after the SARS outbreak in 2002/2003. So far, it has been announced five times
- Not every public health emergency meets the PHEIC criteria. The declaration has not been published, inter alia, during the MERS outbreak
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom announced a public health emergency of international importance in connection with the global outbreak of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus outbreak.
Tedros Adhanom, WHO Director General
The main reason why we are making the declaration is what is happening not in China itself, but rather in other countries of the world
Adhanom also stressed that the PHEIC announcement did not imply a lack of faith in China. The WHO still believes that China is able to control the epidemic.
WHO also made special recommendations regarding PHEIC, which Adhanom summarized at the conference. WHO asks for passenger checks at international airports and ports to detect signs of illness in travelers early, while minimizing disruption to international traffic.
Countries with weak health systems should be supported. The WHO also recommends accelerating work on the vaccine, drugs and diagnostic tests, and calls for the fight against rumors and fake news about the 2019-nCov coronavirus.
The WHO Director General called on leaders of all countries to revise their plans and procedures in the event of the spread of the 2019-nCov coronavirus and called for sharing with WHO and other countries all data, knowledge and experience related to the Wuhan virus. Finally, he said that the only way to win the fight against the epidemic was to cooperate in a spirit of solidarity.
The most important information about the coronavirus:
- Coverage of the Wuhan coronavirus [MAP]
- When will the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine be developed?
- Scientists have selected the countries most at risk from the Wuhan coronavirus
What is an international public health emergency?
A Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) is an extraordinary event that is considered to pose a threat to the public health of other countries. It is announced when the disease spreads rapidly around the world. The cooperation of all countries is then required.
PHEIC has a relatively short history as it was only developed after the SARS outbreak in 2002/2003. PHEIC is announced by the EC Emergency Committee of International Experts under the International Health Regulations (IRH). PHEIC is not limited to infectious diseases and can also include disasters caused by a chemical agent or radioactive nuclear material.
So far, PHEIC has been announced five times. Interestingly, events such as the cholera outbreak in Haiti, the use of chemical weapons in Syria or the Fukushima nuclear disaster did not qualify as a public health emergency of international concern.
When does WHO declare an emergency?
Each country (whether or not it is a WHO member) has 24 hours to report potential events that may qualify as a PHEIC. To facilitate the task, the IHR decision algorithm assists in making decisions about the existence of a public health emergency of international concern. WHO should be notified if the answer to two of the following questions is YES:
- Does the event have a serious impact on public health?
- Is the event unusual or unexpected?
- Is there a significant risk to international spread?
- Is there a significant risk to international travel or trade restrictions?
The PHEIC criteria also include a list of diseases that must always be notified. These include SARS, smallpox, polio, and any new flu virus subtype. Most outbreaks do not meet PHEIC criteria. So far, a public health emergency of international importance has been declared six times:
- in April 2009 due to the swine flu (H1N1) epidemic,
- in May 2014, due to the polio virus in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria,
- in August 2014 due to the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa,
- in February 2016 due to the epidemic of Zika virus infections,
- in June 2019 due to Ebola infections.
The 30-nCov PHEIC declaration, announced on January 2020, 2019, is the sixth such declaration since the PHEIC guidelines were established.
Interestingly, the WHO did not declare an emergency in 2013, when MERS (SARS-like coronavirus and the new Wuhan virus) appeared in Saudi Arabia. MERS has spread to more than 24 countries, and 2015 people have died from MERS since 580.
The Extraordinary Committee shall be re-convened within three months or sooner if the Director-General deems it appropriate.
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