WHO lifts COVID-19’s international health emergency status amid global concerns

By John Paul Barrosa and Jerome Paul Hallig • April 21, 2024

Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced at a media briefing on 5 May 2023 the lifting of the coronavirus disease 2019’s Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) status.

The decision is based on the resolution provided by the fifteenth meeting of the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the COVID-19 pandemic the previous day.

Nonetheless, Ghebreyesus reminds us that COVID-19 remains a global health threat; “If need be, I will not hesitate to convene another Emergency Committee should COVID-19 once again put our world in peril.”

Long Covid

Part of the integration of the virus into daily life is the commonplace occurrence of long COVID, defined by WHO as ‘the continuation or development of new symptoms three months after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection… lasting for at least two months with no other explanation’.

In an article published in the Nature Reviews Microbiology journal by Davis et. Al. in 2023, they identified ‘more than 200 symptoms with impacts on multiple organ systems’. Last 13 January 2023, approximately 10-20% (approximately 65 million) of people already infected continue to become long COVID.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also observed increased susceptibility with persons who had severe cases of the virus (requiring hospitalization at the minimum), had underlying health conditions pre-COVID, and unvaccinated individuals since December of 2022.

Relevance of IHR

Despite being the chief global health institution, the WHO is at its core a technical and normative agency; whose broad jurisdiction requires it to provide general recommendations pertinent to the differing specific scenarios happening all over the globe. This fact prohibits the organization from addressing complex ongoing issues and developing concerns birthed due to the delay in employment of countermeasures because of the time frame necessary to produce expert-approved solutions and their distribution.

Furthermore, the guiding principles for their actions (the IHR) was drafted nearly 15 years prior to the start of this pandemic. Conscious of this reality, the Director-General accepted the resolution of the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly and convened on 8 September 2020 a Review Committee on “the functioning of the IHR and the status of implementation of the relevant recommendations of previous IHR Review Committees.”

The committee’s findings during the next assembly were primarily that NFPs (National IHR Focal Points) are unable to perform their duties properly due to lack of clear guidance from WHO on the designation and functions required of them by the IHR, which resulted in varying definitions between countries leading to the nonexistent power of NFPs.

It must be a requirement for every nation to enact legislation authorizing NFPs to perform their functions and ensure they are resourced and positioned within government, with sufficient levels of seniority to engage with all relevant sectors. Their role is to serve as the bridge between WHO and the national government of their respective country.

Additionally, supplemental power and access to relevant information must be granted to WHO by governments for performing early alert and response alongside proper dissemination channels such as a new World Alert and Response Notice (WARN), informing countries of the correct measures in preventing an event from becoming a crisis.

To ensure the due and consistent observation of their ancillary responsibilities to the organization, a “robust system of compliance evaluation” was stated as a potential solution to fostering accountability within nations to the implementation of the IHR.

Lastly, the issue of auxiliary funding on all levels as well as the WHO was highlighted requisite of all the improvements stipulated in the report.

DOH

On the day the COVID-19’s status was retracted, the Department of Health (DOH) instantly welcomed the pronouncement of the WHO despite officer-in-charge at the time, Maria Rosario Vergeire, admitted three weeks prior that the state of the country still to be considered as a public health emergency (PHE), expressing that it is first necessary to conduct further study of the provisions regarding handling the stages of a pandemic.

“We are seeing that soon we will be able to lift this state of public health emergency. But everything must be in order before we do that. When we lifted the state of calamity, there were provisions in laws that we can no longer implement now” said Vergeire.

DOH and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) eventually convened to “discuss and reassess policies and other guidelines affected by the declaration,” which then led to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s lifting of the Philippines’ PHE status on 22 July 2023.

It is undeniable that the pandemic has left severe economic and social upheaval with millions of dollars spent in hopes of mitigating and repairing the damages it has caused. For future plans, WHO aims to continue guiding countries as they adapt to the virus becoming a common occurrence much like Influenza. Furthermore, the Director-General affirms that “On the Committee’s advice, I have decided to use a provision in the IHR that has never been used before, to establish a Review Committee to develop long-term, standing recommendations for countries on how to manage COVID-19 on an ongoing basis.”

Ghebreyesus also said that the WHO published the fourth edition of the Global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19 on 3 May 2023, which outlines critical actions for countries in five core areas: collaborative surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable care, access to countermeasures, and emergency coordination.

Sources

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

John Paul Barrosa

Research Writer

Resident BUCAL Basketball Coverage Writer

Checkout John Paul's other work here

Jerome Paul Hallig

Research & Development Director

Hi! I'm Jerome, and I currently serve as the Interim Research and Development Director of ThePILLARS Publication. I hope you like the way I write it— No diggity!

Checkout Jerome Paul's other work here

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