Public health emergency of international concern
Formal declaration by the World Health Organization / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC /feɪk/ FAYK) is a formal declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of "an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response", formulated when a situation arises that is "serious, sudden, unusual, or unexpected", which "carries implications for public health beyond the affected state's national border" and "may require immediate international action".[1] Under the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR), states have a legal duty to respond promptly to a PHEIC.[2] The declaration is publicized by an IHR Emergency Committee (EC) of international experts,[3] which was developed following the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.[4]
From 2005 to the present, there have been seven PHEIC declarations: the 2009–2010 H1N1 (or swine flu) pandemic, the ongoing 2014 polio declaration, the 2013–2016 outbreak of Ebola in Western Africa, the 2015–2016 Zika virus epidemic,[5] the 2018–2020 Kivu Ebola epidemic,[6] the 2020–2023 declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic,[7] and the 2022–2023 mpox outbreak.[8] The recommendations are temporary and require reviews every three months.[1]
Automatically, SARS, smallpox, wild type poliomyelitis, and any new subtype of human influenza are considered as PHEICs and thus do not require an IHR decision to declare them as such.[9] A PHEIC is not only confined to infectious diseases, and may cover an emergency caused by exposure to a chemical agent or radioactive material.[10][11] It can be seen as an "alarm system", a "call to action", and "last resort" measure.[12][13]