The Increasingly Shorter WHO Emergency Declaration Cycle... Will It Now Be Issued Annually?

WHO Declares 6th International Public Health Emergency
"Pathogen Emergence Causing Unprecedented Outbreak"

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (right), Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), is holding a press conference with Michael Ryan, Head of the Emergency Response Team, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 30th (local time). Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), raising concerns as the intervals between WHO emergency declarations are becoming shorter.

On the 30th (local time), WHO held an emergency committee meeting and declared a state of emergency related to the novel coronavirus. This measure was announced just hours after at least 170 deaths were reported in China and the first secondary infection case was confirmed in the United States.

On the same day, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus held a press conference after the emergency board meeting at the United Nations office in Geneva, stating, "In recent weeks, we have witnessed the emergence of a pathogen that has caused an unprecedented outbreak, and it has spread as an unprecedented epidemic."

WHO reported that the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases worldwide reached 7,818. In China, there were 7,736 cases including 170 deaths, and in other regions, 82 cases were confirmed across 18 countries.

Photo by Yonhap News

Previously, WHO has declared a 'Public Health Emergency of International Concern' six times, including for the novel coronavirus.

In 2009, WHO declared an emergency two months after the outbreak of the novel influenza (H1N1) that started in Mexico and spread to Europe and Asia. The emergency ended in August 2010, but over 18,000 people died worldwide during that year.

The second emergency declaration was in May 2014 when the poliovirus spread in countries such as Pakistan, Cameroon, and Syria. At that time, WHO declared an emergency as the supply of polio vaccines to some countries was inadequate, causing rapid infection spread.

Following that, WHO declared an emergency again in August of the same year when the Ebola virus outbreak began in West Africa. More than 11,300 people died from Ebola during that outbreak.

The fourth emergency declaration was made in 2016 when the Zika virus spread in Brazil and other countries. This virus causes microcephaly in newborns.

Last year, when the Ebola virus reappeared in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), WHO declared another emergency. At that time, at least 2,200 people died in the DRC alone, and healthcare workers attempting to treat patients were sometimes attacked.

Currently, as the novel coronavirus spreads beyond Asia to other continents, WHO declared an emergency on the 30th.

On the morning of the 21st, at the arrival hall of Terminal 1, Incheon International Airport, sanitation and disinfection service workers are conducting disinfection work in preparation for additional domestic inflow of the 'Wuhan (武漢) novel coronavirus pneumonia.' Photo by Yonhap News.

WHO stipulates that it declares an emergency only in cases of 'serious, unusual, or unexpected exceptional events.'

In particular, WHO considers the potential social and economic impacts of declaring an emergency and only declares it in exceptional cases.

When MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) spread in South Korea in 2015, there was discussion about declaring an emergency, but WHO unanimously decided that the conditions for an emergency declaration were not met.

Following this news, concerns have arisen among citizens that the intervals between WHO emergency declarations are becoming shorter.

A citizen in their 20s, A, said, "It’s scary because WHO emergencies are appearing in the news every day. It feels like the emergency declarations for novel flu and Ebola were just recently, but now the whole world is in chaos because of Wuhan pneumonia." They added, "I feel anxious that such events will happen more frequently in the future."

Office worker B (27) said, "I’m afraid these incidents will become more frequent. Wearing masks has become a daily routine. The number of confirmed cases domestically is also increasing, and I feel that WHO’s response is somewhat delayed."

Another citizen C (35) said, "I think Wuhan pneumonia has become a global epidemic because of its rapid transmission. But WHO’s initial response was also problematic. It seems like emergencies will occur every year now. More and more powerful diseases are emerging."

Meanwhile, as of 3 a.m. on the 31st, the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in China alone reached 8,169. This surpasses the 5,327 confirmed cases of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) that occurred over nine months in China in 2003, demonstrating the rapid transmission capability.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.