“WHO Tracking Mechanism for IHR Additional Health Measures”, Adam Kamradt-Scott, Carmen Dolea, Corinne Poncé, Guénaël Rodier, Margaret Lamunu, Patrick Drury, Sophie Ioos2018-11-08 (sociology)⁠:

In February, 2018, WHO in collaboration with The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia, launched a new tool to monitor compliance with the International Health Regulations (2005_19ya) (IHR 2005) requirements regarding additional health measures. The initiative is part of the WHO Secretariat’s commitment to strengthening the IHR framework, which is a legally binding instrument to protect global public health and prevent unnecessary disruption to international traffic and trade; this framework has been adopted by 196 States Parties, including all 194 Member States of WHO.

The new tool relies on media reports to identify potential outbreak-related trade and travel sanctions, and it uses a standard set of procedures for verification and compliance. Researchers from The University of Sydney are working with the WHO Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, to integrate the tool into existing notification and reporting systems to enable timely monitoring. Integration will enable WHO to track in real time when countries impose trade or travel sanctions that can substantially harm national and regional economies, and to work constructively with governments to remove the sanctions. It is a crucial step in strengthening the implementation of IHR 2005, which remains the only international treaty specifically designed to safeguard global health security.