Solidarity in the wake of COVID-19: reimagining the International Health Regulations

Abstract

Amid frenzied national responses to COVID-19, the world could soon reach a critical juncture to revisit and strengthen the International Health Regulations (IHR), the multilateral instrument that governs how 196 states and WHO collectively address the global spread of disease.1, 2 In many countries, IHR obligations that are vital to an effective pandemic response remain unfulfilled, and the instrument has been largely side-lined in the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest global health crisis in a century. It is time to reimagine the IHR as an instrument that will compel global solidarity and national action against the threat of emerging and re-emerging pathogens. We call on state parties to reform the IHR to improve supervision, international assistance, dispute resolution, and overall textual clarity.

Citation

(2020). Solidarity in the wake of COVID-19: reimagining the International Health Regulations. Lancet, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736%2820%2931417-3

• Acceptance Date: Jun 19, 2020
• Publication Date: Jun 19, 2020
• Journal: The Lancet
• Print ISSN: 0140-6736
• Publisher: Elsevier
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736%2820%2931417-3
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31417-3