Governments near agreement on package of amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005)

In the eighth meeting of the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (WGIHR), which was suspended yesterday until 16 May, State Parties to the IHR took a major step towards agreeing on the package of amendments which will be put forward to the World Health Assembly, which takes place from 27 May–1 June.

This eighth meeting of the Working Group on Amendments to the IHR (WGIHR) started on 22 April and suspended today. Whilst the process is being held alongside negotiations of the world’s first pandemic agreement to strengthen global collaboration among governments to prepare for, prevent and respond to pandemics, it was proposed in WGIHR8 that two separate Resolutions on the two processes be submitted to the World Health Assembly in May. Negotiations resume on the pandemic agreement on 29 April and continue until 10 May.

During the eighth meeting of the WGIHR, substantial progress on finalizing the package of amendments was made as State Parties reached agreement in critical areas.

Fellow WGIHR Co-Chair, Dr Abdullah Assiri, said the proposed amendments to the IHR are readily implementable and recognize the importance of equity in ensuring effective global response.