Countries around the world on Saturday adopted the first US-led change in the law on epidemics, known as the International Health Regulations (IHR), the United States said.The amendments, adopted at a meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO), were agreed at a meeting that was seen as a one-time opportunity by the UN health agency to strengthen its role after nearly 15 million deaths during the COVID-19 violence. . Success – amendments to Article 59 of the IHR that will speed up the implementation of the reforms – came after the defeat of the African opposition and more this week.
The reforms demanded by Washington, and supported by others such as Japan and the European Union, mark the first step in a comprehensive reform of the IHR, which sets out international legal obligations regarding outbreaks, which are expected to take two years. Sheba Crocker, the US ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, praised as “a great success” the first amendments and the agreement to establish a working group that would consider the intended amendments.”The updated, state-of-the-art IHR will assist all countries and will ensure that we have the information, resources, capacity and transparency needed to address future health problems,” he said in a statement.
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