The global health community has taken a key step towards
ensuring rapid action against future outbreaks of infectious diseases
and other threats to international public health. A resolution adopted
today confirms and underlines the World Health Organization’s (WHO)
authority to verify disease outbreaks from all available official and
unofficial sources, and, when necessary to determine the severity of an
outbreak through on-the-spot investigations to ensure it is
appropriately controlled.

The resolution is a major step in the ongoing revision of the
International Health Regulations, which were first published in 1969.
The Regulations, which currently limit mandatory reporting to just a few
diseases, reflect the world at the time they were written and have not
kept pace with the way WHO or the rest of the world now works.

The process of revising these regulations has been placed on a
strong footing by the Assembly, which has also urged all Member States
to establish an improved system to ensure rapid two-way communication
between WHO and the national authorities.

“This is an extremely significant step for international
public health,” said Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of WHO.
“SARS has shown us the size of the challenges we face. These new
measures will help us respond even more effectively to the next public
health threat.”

In a separate move, the Assembly also approved a resolution on
SARS which acknowledged the “intensive regional and global
collaboration, effective strategies and additional resources” which have
been required to bring SARS under control.

Member States noted that “national and international
experiences with SARS contribute lessons that can improve preparedness
for responding to, and mitigating the public health, economic, and
social consequences of the next emerging infectious disease, the next
influenza pandemic, and the possible use of a biological agent to cause
harm.”

The Member States also called on WHO “to take into account
evidence, experiences, knowledge and lessons acquired during the SARS
response when revising the International Health Regulations.”