The U.S. and the International Health Regulations: Implications of an Amended Agreement

In 2022, due to challenges and gaps exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) agreed to a process to review and potentially revise an existing international legal agreement known as the International Health Regulations (IHR). This agreement outlines rights and responsibilities of WHO and governments, including the U.S., in handling international public health events and global health emergencies such as pandemics. The IHR are separate from, though somewhat overlapping with, the potential “pandemic agreement” that is also being negotiated in parallel by WHO member states. The IHR negotiation process is almost complete, with countries expected to approve a set of revisions at the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting, which starts on May...

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