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For Only the Sixth Time, the World Health Organization Declares a Public Health Emergency of International Concern

By 

René F. Najera, DrPH

January 30, 2020

After the epidemic of (SARS) in 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) decided there had to be a mechanism by which all public health agencies in the world would rally under a coordinated plan to counter emergencies. The result was the adoption of the 2005 International Health Regulations to declare (PHEIC).

Since the plan was developed, WHO has only declared a PHEIC six times. The first time was the novel influenza pandemic of 2009, then the resurgence of polio in 2014, then the Western Africa Ebola epidemic of 2014, the 2016 Zika epidemic and the 2018 Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now, for the sixth time, concerning .

Here is the press conference announcing the resolution and next steps: 

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