The Emergency Committee is composed of international experts and is responsible for providing technical advice to the WHO Director-General in the event of a public health emergency (PHEIC) of international concern:
· Whether an incident constitutes an “emergency public health incident of international concern” (PHEIC);
· Interim recommendations for countries or other countries that are being affected by "public health emergencies of international concern" to prevent or reduce the international spread of disease and avoid unnecessary interference with international trade and travel;
· When to end the status of “public health emergencies of international concern”.
To learn more about the International Health Regulations (2005) and the Emergency Committee, please click here.
According to the normal procedures of the International Health Regulations, the Emergency Committee shall reconvene the meeting within 3 months after the meeting on an incident to review the interim recommendations. The last meeting of the Emergency Committee was held on January 30, 2020, and the meeting was reconvened on April 30 to evaluate the evolution of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic and to propose updates opinion.
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement on May 1, and its Emergency Committee agreed that the current 2019 coronavirus disease epidemic still constitutes an "public health emergency of international concern."
The Emergency Committee made a series of recommendations in a statement on May 1. Among them, the Emergency Committee recommended that WHO cooperate with the World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to help determine the animal source of the virus. Earlier, the Emergency Committee had suggested on 23 and 30 January that WHO and China should make efforts to confirm the animal source of the outbreak.