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This website is designed to guide users through the
area of international treaties, conventions, standards and guidelines
applicable to biotechnology. |
Title: International Health Regulations |
Summary of Provisions:As part of the World Health Organisation (WHO) system the International Health Regulations (IHR) aim to prevent the spread of infectious diseases across borders without unduly affecting international travel and trade. The Regulations set maximum standards to be used in the prevention of transboundary spread of infectious diseases, including isolation of infected persons and disinfection of ships and other means of transport. These are set as maximums to reduce overreactions by states that can prove unnecessarily economically damaging.Summary of Development:The International Health Regulations have their origin in nineteenth century attempts to control the spread of infectious diseases such as the 1892 and 1897 International Sanitary Conventions that dealt with cholera and plague respectively. Those two conventions were combined in 1903 to form a single International Sanitary Convention. Following the Second World War the World Health Organisation was established as a specialised agency of the United Nations and its members adopted the International Sanitary Regulations in 1951. These were renamed the International Health Regulations in 1969 and originally covered smallpox, relapsing fever, typhus, cholera, plague and yellow fever. The International Health Regulations were revised in 1973 and 1981. Work on creating a new version of the Regulations, able to meet the current global challenges of new and re-emerging diseases, began in 1995 and a revised version was adopted in May 2005. It covers all disease outbreaks that constitute 'public health emergencies of international concern'. Article 1 of the International Health Regulations defines these as: "an extraordinary event which is determined, as provided in these
Regulations: Current Status:The 2005 version of the International Health Regulations entered into force on 15th June 2007. The World Health Organisation has 193 Member States.Precursors1903 International Sanitary Convention 1951 International Sanitary RegulationsInternational Health Regulations Related Summaries on the Genomics Gateway Site:WHO Guidance on Regulations for the Transport of Infectious Substances WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual WHO Laboratory Biosecurity Guidance Page last updated 26th March 2009. Comments/enquiries to catherine.rhodes-2 'at' manchester.ac.uk |