IHR  Compendium

IHR Compendium

Links go to the original files stored on the WHO website. We are preserving copies locally on our servers for posterity, which you can access via the blue buttons.
Current IHR Amendments
FEBRUARY 6TH 2023
Article-by-Article compilation of proposed amendments…

What are the International Health Regulations?

What are the International Health Regulations?

While the current IHRs have been considered recommendations and not orders, the members of the World Health Assembly (the W.H.O. member states) decided to amend the existing IHR in March 2022.[4] Currently only drafts, and not the final IHR proposal are currently available, the drafts…

What is the W.H.O.?

What is the W.H.O.?

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) is an agency formed under the auspices of the United Nations (U.N.) in 1948, shortly after the U.N. itself was formed following World War 2. It is considered a specialized agency of the U.N. Unlike other specialized U.N. agencies, the W.H.O. has its own constitution, and can make treaties. The W.H.O. is composed of…

What is One Health and Why is it a Problem?

What is One Health and Why is it a Problem?

“One Health” was conceived 20 years ago as the idea that human health and animal health are intertwined, since some diseases are transmitted from animals to humans. These diseases would perhaps be better managed with specialists in animal and human health working together. Subsequently the WHO, the US government and…

Human Rights

Human Rights

The 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has been signed and ratified by 173 countries, including the US. It recognizes that the “inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family [are] the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” It then specifies the rights of all peoples: “All peoples have the right…

The Myth of Pandemic Preparedness

The Myth of Pandemic Preparedness

Under the guise of pandemic preparedness an industry was built out, fortunes were made, and new lethal viruses and other microorganisms were discovered or created. A panoply of pandemics and accompanying WHO pandemic declarations have rolled out, one after the other, one scarcely ending before the next appears: 2009 swine flu, 2014 Ebola, 2016 Zika…

What is “Gain of Function’ research?

What is “Gain of Function’ research?

‘Gain of Function’ (GOF) research uses benign-sounding terminology to confuse people who are unfamiliar with the subject. It used to be called ‘biodefense,’ ‘biological warfare’ and ‘germ warfare’ research in past decades. The term refers to making existing microorganisms (viruses, fungi and bacteria) more dangerous, by giving them one or more new…

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