Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) has Declared Twice in 2014; Polio and Ebola at the Top

Mohammed A. Soghaier; Khwaja M.I. Saeed; Khushhal K. Zaman; Mohammed A. Soghaier; Khwaja M.I. Saeed; Khushhal K. Zaman

doi:10.3934/publichealth.2015.2.218

AIMS Public Health

2015, Volume 2, Issue 2: 218-222. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2015.2.218

Previous Article Next Article

Commentary

Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) has Declared Twice in 2014; Polio and Ebola at the Top

1.
Communicable Diseases Epidemiologist & Biostatistician, Federal Ministry of Health, Khartoum, 11111, Sudan;
2.
Director Surveillance/IHR Focal Point, Ministry of Public Health, Kabul, 1001, Afghanistan;
3.
International Public Health/Disease Surveillance and Control Expert, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

Received: 29 March 2015 Accepted: 02 June 2015 Published: 05 June 2015

Background: The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the large scale wild Polio virus outbreak in several countries are the top most issues among international public health and scientific communities' debates and concerns. These two outbreaks were judged to be declared as Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) during 2014. This is the first time ever to have such circumstance of two PHEICs at the same time. Discussion: PHEIC, which has to be declared by WHO Director General after a recommendation of IHR Emergency Committee; is observed to start in countries with fragile health system and conflict areas. Then it rapidly spread to threaten the global public health. The year 2014 has uniquely witnessed declaration of two events as PHEIC according to IHR (2005); Polio and Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). Both outbreaks are caused by viruses such as H1N1 which was previously declared as PHEIC in 2009. Summary: Public Health Emergencies of International Concern in 2014 occurred in countries with weak health systems and conflicts and threatening the whole globe. International collaborative work is required to contain the event and to mobilize resources/capacities between countries. Moreover, public health surveillance systems as core capacity for IHR (2005) should be strengthened in all countries with focus on those with limited capacity and ongoing conflicts. The ultimate aim is timely detection of potential PHEIC events in the future along with early preparedness and response plans.
- IHR (2005),
- outbreak,
- PHEIC,
- Ebola,
- Polio
Citation: Mohammed A. Soghaier, Khwaja M.I. Saeed, Khushhal K. Zaman. Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) has Declared Twice in 2014; Polio and Ebola at the Top[J]. AIMS Public Health, 2015, 2(2): 218-222. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2015.2.218

Related Papers:

Abstract

Background: The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the large scale wild Polio virus outbreak in several countries are the top most issues among international public health and scientific communities' debates and concerns. These two outbreaks were judged to be declared as Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) during 2014. This is the first time ever to have such circumstance of two PHEICs at the same time. Discussion: PHEIC, which has to be declared by WHO Director General after a recommendation of IHR Emergency Committee; is observed to start in countries with fragile health system and conflict areas. Then it rapidly spread to threaten the global public health. The year 2014 has uniquely witnessed declaration of two events as PHEIC according to IHR (2005); Polio and Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). Both outbreaks are caused by viruses such as H1N1 which was previously declared as PHEIC in 2009. Summary: Public Health Emergencies of International Concern in 2014 occurred in countries with weak health systems and conflicts and threatening the whole globe. International collaborative work is required to contain the event and to mobilize resources/capacities between countries. Moreover, public health surveillance systems as core capacity for IHR (2005) should be strengthened in all countries with focus on those with limited capacity and ongoing conflicts. The ultimate aim is timely detection of potential PHEIC events in the future along with early preparedness and response plans.

References

[1]	Katz RL, Fernandez JA, McNabb SJ (2010) Disease surveillance, capacity building and implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR [2005]). BMC Public Health 10: S1. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-S1-S1
[2]	Baker MG, Forsyth AM (2007) The new International Health Regulations: a revolutionary change in global health security. N Z Med J 120: U2872.
[3]	Plotkin B (2007) Human rights and other provisions in the revised International Health Regulations (2005). Public health 121: 840-845. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2007.08.001
[4]	Katz R, Fischer J (2010) The revised international Health Regulations: a framework for global pandemic response. Global health governance 3.
[5]	Katz R (2009) Use of revised International Health Regulations during influenza A (H1N1) epidemic, 2009. Emerging infectious diseases 15: 1165. doi: 10.3201/eid1508.090665
[6]	Mitka M (2013) Deadly MERS Coronavirus Not Yet a Global Concern. JAMA 310: 569-569. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.251229
[7]	Organization WH (2014) WHO statement on the second meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee concerning the international spread of wild poliovirus. Saudi Med J 35: 920-922.
[8]	Gostin LO, Friedman EA (2014) Ebola: a crisis in global health leadership. Lancet 384: 1323-1325. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61791-8
[9]	Wolz A (2014) Face to face with Ebola—an emergency care center in Sierra Leone. N Engl J Med 371: 1081-1083. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1410179
[10]	GOSTIN LO (2014) Global Polio Eradication: Espionage, Disinformation, and the Politics of Vaccination. Milbank Q 92: 413-417. doi: 10.1111/1468-0009.12065
[11]	Suk JE, Van Cangh T, Beauté J, et al. (2014) The interconnected and cross-border nature of risks posed by infectious diseases. Glob Health Action 7.
[12]	Team WER (2014) Ebola virus disease in West Africa—the first 9 months of the epidemic and forward projections. N Engl J Med 371: 1481-1495. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1411100
[13]	Mideksa TK (2005) Vaccination and disease eradication: a dynamic analysis.
[14]	Jeffs B (2006) A clinical guide to viral haemorrhagic fevers: Ebola, Marburg and Lassa. Trop Doct 36: 1-4.
[15]	Faden H, Modlin JF, Thoms ML, et al. (1990) Comparative evaluation of immunization with live attenuated and enhanced-potency inactivated trivalent poliovirus vaccines in childhood: systemic and local immune responses. J Infect Dis 162: 1291-1297. doi: 10.1093/infdis/162.6.1291
[16]	UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) (2015) Available from: https://ebolaresponse.un.org/un-mission-ebola-emergency-response-unmeer.
[17]	Aylward B, Yamada T (2011) The polio endgame. N Engl J Med 364: 2273-2275. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1104329
[18]	Cochi SL, Jafari HS, Armstrong GL, et al. (2014) A world without polio. J Infect Dis 210: S1-S4. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiu383
[19]	World Helath Organization (2014) WHO guidance for implementation of the IHR temporary recommendations under the ihr (2005) to reduce the international spread of polio.
[20]	Organization WH (2014) WHO interim guidance for Ebola event management at points of entry.
[21]	Farrar JJ, Piot P (2014) The Ebola emergency immediate action, ongoing strategy. N Engl J Med 371: 1545-1546. doi: 10.1056/NEJMe1411471
[22]	Klepac P, Metcalf CJE, McLean AR, et al. (2013) Towards the endgame and beyond: complexities and challenges for the elimination of infectious diseases. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 368: 20120137. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0137
[23]	Chakravarthi I (2009) Ignored outcomes of Polio Eradication. Economic and Political Weekly 44: 69-71.

Reader Comments

Your name:*

Email:*
© 2015 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)