News Release

Can the International Health Regulations apply to antimicrobial resistance?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Stephan Harbarth from the University of Geneva, Switzerland and colleagues argue that the International Health Regulations (IHR) should be applied to the global health threat of antimicrobial resistance. They say that certain events marking the emergence and spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, especially those involving new pan-resistant strains for which there are no suitable treatments, may constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and are notifiable to WHO under the IHR notification requirement.

In an accompanying Perspective article, Adam Kamradt-Scott from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom (uninvolved in the work) disagrees with the Harbarth proposal and argues that the IHR were never intended to tackle all disease threats and that applying it to antimicrobial resistance would be impossible to implement.

The International Health Regulations (IHR) is a legally binding agreement between 194 States Parties, whose aim is to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease. These global rules are intended to enhance national, regional and global public health security.

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Article by Stephan Harbarth and colleagues:

Funding: The authors received no specific funding to write this paper. JC received financial support for a sabbatical leave from the University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.

Competing Interests: JC has an unpaid relationship with the World Health Organization in the Department of Global Alert and Response (Infection Prevention and Control Unit). All other authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation: Wernli D, Haustein T, Conly J, Carmeli Y, Kickbusch I, et al. (2011) A Call for Action: The Application of the International Health Regulations to the Global Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance. PLoS Med 8(4): e1001022. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001022

CONTACT:
Prof. Stephan Harbarth
University of Geneva Hospitals and Medical School
Infection Control Program
4, rue Gabrielle Perret-Gentil
Geneva
1211
Switzerland
+41 (0)22 372 33 57
stephan.harbarth@hcuge.ch

Perspective by Adam Kamradt-Scott

Funding: No specific funding was received to write the article. The author receives research funding from the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme - Ideas Grant 230489 GHG. All views expressed remain those of the author.

Competing Interests: The author previously attended the intergovernmental negotiations on the revised IHR in February and May, 2005, as a member of a government delegation.

Citation: Kamradt-Scott A (2011) A Public Health Emergency of International Concern? Response to a Proposal to Apply the International Health Regulations to Antimicrobial Resistance. PLoS Med 8(4): e1001021. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001021

CONTACT:

Dr. Adam Kamradt-Scott
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Department of Global Health & Development
15-17 Tavistock Place
London
WC1H 9SH
+44 20 7927 2140
Adam.Kamradt-Scott@lshtm.ac.uk


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