At the 75th World Health Assembly, the United States aims to get the ball rolling on its proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations, a global framework for responding to disease outbreaks.
Coming into this week, the U.S. government was clear that it wanted to see progress on global health security, said Loyce Pace, assistant secretary for global affairs at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, during a Devex event on the sidelines of WHA.
“If we go home having not done anything, it's not really a great look,” she said. “We can at least take one piece of it … and walk away with that sort of success and that win.”
Proposed changes: The country’s proposed amendments to the IHR focus on state parties providing early notification to the World Health Organization about any event that may constitute a so-called public health emergency of international concern, as well as WHO having a 24-hour window to offer to work with states to verify reports and assess a disease’s potential to spread internationally.
This week, the U.S. hopes for a decision on a proposed amendment to IHR Article 59 that would see amendments come into force on a reduced time scale — from two years to just one — Pace said.
What’s next: The U.S. is still looking for some progress to be made during this WHA session even though engaging member states has been difficult during the pandemic, Pace said.
“We wanted to take action immediately and we didn't want to use the pandemic as … an excuse for waiting,” she said. “We can't just wait until this is over for us to do anything.”
About the author
Rumbi Chakamba
Rumbi Chakamba is a Senior Editor at Devex based in Botswana, who has worked with regional and international publications including News Deeply, The Zambezian, Outriders Network, and Global Sisters Report. She holds a bachelor's degree in international relations from the University of South Africa.
