International health emergency

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A health emergency of international concern (short: GNIT , also Internationaler Gesundheitsnotstand , English Public Health Emergency of International Concern for short: PHEIC ) is an event determined by the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) in accordance with Article 12 of the International Health Regulations (IGV).

definition

The prerequisite for an international health emergency is an "extraordinary event" in which a disease threatens to spread across national borders and thus becomes a health risk for other countries and international traffic, is classified as "serious, unusual or unexpected" and possibly an immediate international one requires coordinated action.

Procedure

In Germany, the Robert Koch Institute is responsible for transmitting the relevant information in the field of communicable diseases to the WHO ( Section 12 (1) sentence 4 IfSG ), for the field of chemical hazards the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief and for the field of radionuclear ones Dangers to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (Section 4 (1) No. 1–3 IGV Implementation Act).

For the assessment and reporting of events that could represent a health emergency of international scope, Appendix 2 to the IGV contains a decision-making scheme, according to which the national authorities proceed.

The Director General of the WHO consults with the State party in whose territory an event has occurred and requests the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee (IHR Emergency Committee ), which is made up of experts from all relevant specialist areas, to provide suitable preliminary recommendations (Art. 12, 47, 48 IGV). The committee includes virologists , disease control experts, vaccine developers and specialized epidemiologists .

The Director General makes a final decision based on the expert's opinion and communicates his decision to the Contracting States (Art. 49 Paragraphs 5, 6, Art. 11 Paragraph 2 letter a) IGV). It also informs the natural or legal person who is responsible for transport by aircraft, ships, railways, road vehicles or other means of transport in international travel (Art. 49 (6) sentence 2 IGV).

Consequences

If a health emergency has been identified, the WHO gives temporary recommendations to prevent or reduce the cross-border spread of diseases and to avoid unnecessary disruption to international traffic. The recommendations may include health measures that should be carried out by the state party that is in a health emergency of international scope or by other states party and relate to people and luggage, freight, containers, means of transport, goods and / or postal parcels (Art. 15 IGV).

Recommendations made by the WHO to the contracting states in relation to persons can, according to Art. 18 para. 1 IHR, contain the following advice:

  • review the itinerary in affected areas;
  • review evidence of medical examinations and laboratory results;
  • request medical examinations;
  • review evidence of vaccination or other prophylaxis;
  • require vaccination or other prophylaxis;
  • subject suspects to public health surveillance;
  • Conduct quarantine or other health measures for suspicious persons;
  • a secretion perform data subjects and, if necessary, their treatment;
  • follow up on contacts of suspicious or data subjects;
  • refuse entry to suspicious and affected persons;
  • refuse entry of unaffected persons to affected areas and
  • Screen and / or impose restrictions on people leaving affected areas.

With regard to luggage, freight, containers, means of transport, goods and postal parcels, the recommendations given in accordance with Art. 18 para. 2 IGV:

  • Check the loading list and route;
  • verify evidence of measures taken on departure or transit to remove infection or contamination;
  • carry out handling of baggage, cargo, containers, means of transport, goods, postal parcels or human remains in order to eliminate infection or contamination including vectors and herds;
  • apply special health measures to ensure the safe handling and transportation of human remains;
  • conduct a segregation or quarantine;
  • Seize and destroy infected or contaminated or suspicious items of luggage or freight, containers, means of transport, goods or postal parcels under controlled conditions when other available treatments or procedures would otherwise remain unsuccessful and
  • refuse entry or exit.

Previous cases

Since the international health regulations came into force in 2005, the following international health emergencies have been identified among the thousands of events reported to WHO since then:

The outbreak of the MERS-CoV virus on the Arabian Peninsula has not yet led to a health emergency being identified.

The forecast risks for the people in Japan and outside the country as a result of the Fukushima nuclear disaster are low, according to the WHO.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Health regulations, International: Recommendation of the Robert Koch Institute after hearing the highest state health authorities. In: Federal Health Gazette 9 (2018)
  2. ↑ International Health Regulations. (PDF) Article 12: Determination of a public health emergency of international concern. World Health Organization , 2005, accessed January 30, 2020 .
  3. ^ A b Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com): What is an international health emergency? | DW | 01/30/2020. Accessed January 30, 2020 (German).
  4. ↑ Christiane Fux: What is an international health emergency? January 21, 2020.
  5. ↑ The International Health Regulations of the World Health Organization RKI, accessed on March 24, 2020.
  6. ↑ BGBl. I p. 566
  7. ↑ Federal Law Gazette 2007 II p. 930 , 977
  8. ↑ International Health Regulations. (PDF) Part IX: The IHR Roster of Experts, the Emergency Committee and the Review Committee. World Health Organization , 2005, accessed January 30, 2020 .
  9. ↑ What the WHO Declaration of a Health Emergency Means January 30, 2020.
  10. ^ Statement on the meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee for Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo WHO, October 18, 2019.
  11. ^ Ebola in the Congo continues to be a health emergency ärzteblatt.de , February 13, 2020.
  12. ↑ Florian Rötzer: WHO calls out international emergency January 30, 2020.
  13. ↑ cf. Country & Technical Guidance - Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) WHO, accessed on March 24, 2020.
  14. ↑ Preparedness, prevention and control of COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention WHO / Regional Office for Europe (PDF), March 15, 2020 (English).
  15. ↑ How dangerous is the virus from Saudi Arabia? Stern , March 9, 2015
  16. ↑ Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - Qatar WHO, Disease Outbreak News, March 12, 2020 (English).
  17. ↑ WHO report: Only slightly higher cancer risk after Fukushima Der Spiegel , February 28, 2013.
  18. ↑ Sven Stockrahm: Report on the nuclear accident: WHO estimates the effects of radiation after Fukushima to be low, Die Zeit , February 28, 2013.