scholarly journals The world health organization: The (un)attainable ideal?

2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (91) ◽  
pp. 271-286
Author(s):  
Jovana Blešić

The World Health Organization (WHO) is one of the UN specialized agencies. Its work and functions gained even more importance in 2020 with the emergence of the corona virus. The eyes of the entire international community focused on this organization and its Director General. Nowadays, its efficiency has been subject to various forms of criticism. In this paper, the author first provides a brief overview of this organization and its significance. The central part of the paper focuses on the activities of the WHO during the Covid-19 pandemic, through the clarification of the concept of public health emergency of international concern and the use of International Health Regulations. Finally, the author discusses the possible reform of this body. The aim of this paper is to familiarize the readers with the World Health Organization and put its activities in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 026-033
Author(s):  
Kalina Maria de Medeiros Gomes Simplício ◽  
Giovanni Vargas-Hernández ◽  
Mauro Henrique Bueno de Camargo ◽  
Michelly Fernandes de Macedo

In December 2019, the world watched in disbelief as a viral epidemic, originating in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, took on frightening proportions. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the disease caused by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) to be a public health emergency of international importance, the highest level of alert of the Organization, as provided in the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2016). On March 11, 2020, the epidemic was declared a pandemic by the WHO. Despite the rapid distribution of the new virus, many countries were reluctant or slow to comply strictly with the prophylactic methods suggested by those who had already experienced the whole situation of threat to the health of their populations.


Author(s):  
Massimo Capoccia ◽  
Claudio De Lazzari ◽  
Domenico M. Pisanelli ◽  
Beatrice De Lazzari

On January 30, 2020, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the international outbreak of new coronavirus 2019-nCoV (Public Health Emergency of International Concern -PHEIC), as enshrined in the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005). The current pandemic has uncovered our vulnerability and fears turning our lives upside down. We have been forced to a more resourceful approach with a view to contain and limit potential damage. The current events have put significant strain on hospital organisations all over the world.


2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-102
Author(s):  
Anika Klafki

The world is increasingly vulnerable to infectious diseases. Although the fundamental reform of the International Health Regulations (IHR) in 2005 was heralded as the beginning of a new era of international health law, the Ebola outbreak 2014 shattered all hopes that the world would now be adequately equipped for epidemic outbreaks of transmissible diseases. The Ebola crisis is perceived as an epic failure on the part of the World Health Organization (WHO). The many dead are a sad testimony to the world's inability to adequately respond to the threat posed by contagions. In reaction to this defeat, policymakers now focus on hands-on initiatives to foster global health instead of reformulating international health law. So far, extensive investments and innovations within the WHO, the United Nations system, and in the private sector have multiplied rapidly. The mushrooming of various health initiatives, however, increases the complexity and reduces the consistency of the current global health landscape. The leadership role of the WHO needs to be restored to provide a coherent response for the next global scale public health emergency. To this end, a fundamental reform of the presently widely neglected international regulatory framework in the field of public law, the IHR, is of vital importance. Keywords: World Health Organization, International Health Regulations, Infectious Diseases, Ebola, Influenza, Public Health, Public Health Emergency


Author(s):  
Anuj K. Pandey ◽  
Sidharth S. Mishra ◽  
Yogesh Wadgave ◽  
Nidhi Mudgil ◽  
Sonal Gawande ◽  
...  

The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was initially noticed in a seafood market in Wuhan city in Hubei Province of China in mid-December 2019 which has now spread to 223 countries/territories/areas worldwide. World Health Organization (WHO) under International Health Regulations (IHR) has declared this outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on 30th January 2020 subsequently declared a pandemic on 11th March 2020.


1969 ◽  
pp. 497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosario M. Isasi ◽  
Thu Minh Nguyen

The 2003 SARS outbreak exemplified both the porous boundaries for infectious disease due to globalization and the inadequacy of global governance of public health. The World Health Organization (WHO), whose mission is to play a leading role in the protection and promotion of global public health, recently adopted a revision of its International Health Regulations (IHR). By revising and updating the IHR, it remains to be seen whether this new instrument can serve as a model for effective public health governance, allowing the WHO to fulfil its mandate. The authors provide background on the role and evaluation of the WHO in global health governance. They then provide a comparative analysis between the 2005 IHR with the original 1969 IHR in terms of scope, procedure, response networks, capacities and respect for human rights.


2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (20) ◽  
Author(s):  
N Gill

The latest progress report from the World Health Organization (WHO) states that broadening the requirement to notify WHO, from the present three diseases listed in the regulations (cholera, plague and yellow fever), is central to the revision of the International Health Regulations (IHR) that is under way (1).


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