196 countries around the world, including all the Member States of WHO. Their aim is to help the international community prevent and respond to important public health risks that have the potential to cross borders and threaten people worldwide. They also alert the public health system and ultimately governments to public health hazards, their spread and severity. This makes the IHR (2005) constitute the essential vehicle for emergency response action.
Recent crises have highlighted the shortcomings of the IHR and its application by nations and the
WHO Secretariat as Member States have largely failed to implement the core requirements,
particularly