ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the new International Health Regulations (IHR) and their implications for global health and security in the 21st century. The traditional approach to international disease spread developed prior to the emergence of international human rights law. 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. States parties cannot apply health measures to travelers without their prior express informed consent, except in situations that warrant compulsory measures. The old IHR limited World Health Organization to officially using information provided by states parties. Globalization has significantly decreased the state's ability to control the flow of epidemiological information into and out of its territory, and thus its prospects of keeping serious disease events hidden from international scrutiny.
