IHR News
The WHO quarterly bulletin on IHR implementation
What's new in the WHO regions? 1
AFRO: IHR assessment tools finalization workshop, 10-17 November 2008, Brazzaville, Congo
With the pressing deadline of June 2009 for assessments and development of plans of action as required under the IHR, AFRO and IHR Coordination Geneva held a meeting in Brazzaville to review and finalize the current assessment tools, plan the field testing of these in selected countries, and discuss strategies for the comprehensive assessment of countries in the African region. Further to this meeting, the assessment tools were field tested in Cameroon from 1-13 December. This mission was carried out successfully by the team from AFRO, the WHO Cameroon Country Office, the Cameroon health authorities, and IHR Coordination (HQ and WHO Lyon Office).
EMRO: Intercountry meeting on IHR implementation, 24-27 November 2008, Aleppo, Syrian Arab Republic
The purpose of this meeting, organized by EMRO with the support of IHR Coordination Geneva, was to discuss and reach an understanding on the core requirements for the surveillance, alert and response as defined in the IHR for Member States in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The work included a review of assessment tools and self-assessment checklists developed for measuring the national core capacities of EMRO Member States for surveillance, alert and response in accordance with the implementation of IHR, and discussion of implementation plans in accordance with IHR core capacity requirements.
EURO: Fourth SHIPSAN collaborative group meeting, 25–28 November 2008, Athens, Greece
This event brought the SHIPSAN project to a close, and served to launch SHIPSAN TRAINET. The aim of the series of SHIPSAN meetings was to present project results regarding the assessment of the usefulness of an EU coordinated action for the control of communicable diseases related to passenger ships, to disseminate the project's deliverables and introduce the outline of the EU SHIPSAN manual. The purpose of this first SHIPSAN TRAINET meeting was to present the project objectives that follow on the work of SHIPSAN, present the work packages and methodology under this new project and plan the first 12 months of the project’s activities.
EURO: Workshop on Ship Sanitation Certificates (SSC), 8–11 October 2008, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
The Spanish national port authorities in Palma de Mallorca organized this national workshop for ship inspection under the scope of the IHR and the Certificate/Exemption of Sanitary Control. It also tested current measures through a simulation exercise to test response capacity in the event of a public health emergency in a port setting. The workshop targeted port health officers from the entire Spanish territory. For more information please contact ihrtransport@who.int
PAHO/AMRO: Training on ship sanitation inspection under the IHR in the Americas, 10-13 December 2008, Miami, Florida, USA
Following the sub-regional meeting on “Ship Sanitation Certificates (SSCs) and the implementation of the IHR at ports, airports and ground crossings” in Bridgetown, Barbados in June 2008, participants called for a hands-on training session on guidelines for the application of ship sanitation certificates for officers responsible for managing SSCs. Participants from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Vessel Sanitation Program), Health Canada (Vancouver) contributed materials and trainers for the field training sessions.
WPRO: IHR Event Communication Exercise, November and December 2008
An IHR Communication Exercise in the Western Pacific Region ("IHR Exercise Crystal 2008") was conducted in November and December 2008. The purpose was to test and validate IHR event related communications between the National IHR Focal Points and the WHO IHR Contact Point in the Region. Twenty-three Member States participated in this practical exercise that tested the IHR verification process.
WPRO: The second meeting of Pacific National IHR Focal Points (NFPs), 14-16 October 2008, Cook Islands
The objectives of this meeting were to review progress and identify next steps in strengthening and maintaining the core functions of NFPs and of the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases (APSED)/IHR assessment. Participants also reviewed workplan development and implementation and regional mechanisms to collect disease and public health event information that will facilitate risk assessment and response as required under the IHR.
1The six WHO regional offices: AFRO – Regional Office for Africa ; EMRO - Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean; EURO - Regional Office for Europe; PAHO/AMRO – Pan American Sanitary Bureau/Regional Office for the Americas; SEARO - Regional Office for South-East Asia; WPRO - Regional Office for the Western Pacific.