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Editorial: WHO keeps covid-19 a public health emergency of international concern

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Tue, 2023-03-07 11:01 — mike kraft

WHO keeps covid-19 a public health emergency of international concern A sensible decision—the defining criteria still apply On 30 January 2023 the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced his decision that covid-19 remains a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC),1 three years after the emergency was first declared.2 In doing so, Tedros acknowledged the advice of the covid-19 emergency committee that “the covid-19 pandemic is probably at a transition point.” There is considerable speculation about when the PHEIC will be terminated.3 PHEICs are determined by the director general under the International Health Regulations,4 the legal framework governing international disease spread. PHEICs are events that are deemed to be extraordinary, constitute a public health risk to other states through international spread of disease, and potentially require a coordinated international response.4 The subjectivity of the decision making is inescapable. PHEICs are the highest and only alarm under the International Health Regulations.5 Whether they function effectively as such an alarm remains debatable.6 They also activate certain powers, including the ability of the WHO director general to issue “temporary recommendations.” These include health measures that affected and unaffected states may implement to prevent or reduce international … The BMJ

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