ABSTRACT

The World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted the new International Health Regulations (IHR) on May 23, 2005. The new IHR represent the culmination of a decade-long revision process and an historic development for international law and public health. The purpose of the new IHR is "to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease in ways that are commensurate with and restricted to public health risks, and which avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade". The new IHR incorporate human rights principles, recognizing the effects of public health interventions on civil and political rights, such as security of person and freedom of movement. The new IHR contain provisions on the important human rights areas of informed consent and privacy. The general requirement on WHO to disclose the source of non-governmental information might deter non-state actors from supplying WHO with information, particularly individuals living under authoritarian regimes.