International Health Regulation 2005 and Public Health Emergency of International Concern Prevention and Control in Thailand

Abstract

                   This study aimed to review the implementation of International Health Regulation for a prevention and control the public health emergency of international concern. The International Health Regulation 2005 is a legal agreement and has purposes 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 risk, and which avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade. The state parties have to develop certain minimum core public health capacities; a) core capacities requirements for coordination, communication of event information and adoption measures. And b) core capacities for responding to events that may constitute the public health emergency of international concern. Thailand have accepted the IHR 2005 since 2007 and applied the IHR 2005 for prevention and control and surveillance public health incidence such as; control of the spread of influenza 2009, Ebola virus infectious disease surveillance and Middle East respiratory syndrome surveillance. However, Thailand implementation IHR 2005 focusing on the infectious disease only. This article has a recommendation for public health agencies and relevant agencies for developing public health plan under the IHR 2005 and managing public health incidence to cover up the health threat from chemicals, radioactivity or biological weapons.