At 58th World Heath Assembly (WHA) on May 23, 2005, 194 Member States adopted a new set of International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) to manage a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).  The IHR are a “key global instrument for protection against the international spread of disease.”  This is a legally-binding instrument of international law for member states which came into force June 15, 2007. [1, 2, 5]

Which this regulatory update the term  Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and what constitutes it’s determination is found in Article 12.

When a PHEIC is declared by the WHO Director-General, as advised by an his/her self appointed Emergency Committee, the Member States are obliged (under international law) to follow the Directions of the WHO Director General.  Also note, the WHO Director General consults with the Member State before an Emergency Committee is convened.

Under the IHR, Australia, as a Member State who’s signed the agreement, is now legally obliged to follow directives given by WHO Director-General.  It is important to note that declaring a “pandemic” has no international response power!


History: “In 1948, the WHO constitution came into force and in May 1951 WHO Member States adopted the International Sanitary Regulations (ISR), which were renamed the International Health Regulations in 1969 [3]. The regulations were modified in 1973 and 1981.   IHR were originally intended to help monitor and control six serious infectious diseases: cholera, plague, yellow fever, smallpox, relapsing fever and typhus which were reported in the WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER).  Today, only cholera, plague and yellow fever are notifiable diseases.” [4]