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DRC Ebola Outbreak 2019 Blog 9 Politics of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
The WHO has an instrument, the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), to end serious outbreaks or disasters. A PHEIC declaration warns the international community regarding the imminent international spread of a lethal infectious agent or other disaster requiring international help. As a tool of the WHO, PHEIC declarations help governments avoid confusion as to the severity of a global threat. As an emergency warning mechanism for coordinated international action, PHEIC declarations advise governments to send specialists, resources and finances to the affected country, coordinating with international partners to end an epidemic.
There are some difficulties in using this instrument. Declaring a PHEIC when unnecessary can damage the economy of the affected region. However, during the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak, the WHO delayed its PHEIC declaration for many months without continuously investigating the extent and rate of transmission which had the unintended consequence that the Ebola virus epidemic spread over a wide area and many lives were lost. A separate, unforeseen consequence of declaring a PHEIC is that some neighboring countries near the outbreak zone introduce severe trade and travel restrictions hurting the PHEIC-affected region.
The 2014 Ebola epidemic is a prime example of unforeseen negative effects of PHEIC activation. As neighboring countries did not want the attached stigma of an Ebola virus outbreak, they shut down all incoming WHO coalition supplies, personnel and goods into this region. These important supplies and personnel were necessary to control the epidemic and provide a stable food source and essentials both during the epidemic and afterward until these economies would be revived. Long-term economic damage from PHEIC sanctions further delayed ending the outbreak, potentially reigniting this Ebola virus epidemic into a pandemic which kept it on the global agenda for another year, stunting trade, travel and recovery for years resulting in the loss of US billions of dollars in regional income (12, 59).
Copyright © 2019 Na’eem A. Abdullah All Rights Reserved
Morning fog on the African river Sangha. Congo. Sergey Uryadnikov Photographer/ Shutterstock Photos.
Many emerging infectious diseases originate in tropical ecosystems. See About Page - Sangha River.
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