Could you list the disease outbreaks that have been declared as the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)?
1. H1N1 Pandemic: The infection started from North America in April and WHO declared a pandemic in June 2009, a total of 74 countries and territories had reported laboratory confirmed infections
2. Ebola:It started in Guinea then quickly spread to neighbouring countries Sierra Leone and Liberia. In August 2014, WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
3. Zika: The infection was started in Brazil since 2015. After getting the transmitted reports from 86 countries, in 2016, WHO declared that the mosquito transmitted Zika infection as Public Health Emergency of International Concern
4. COVID 19: The novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, has spread from the People’s Republic of China to 20 other countries in 2019
On 30 January 2020 following the recommendations of the Emergency Committee, the WHO Director General declared that the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
In May 2023, COVID is defined as no longer PHEIC and WHO stated that the virus will stay with us for many years.
5. MPox: The upsurge of MPox infection in Demographic Republic of Congo and nearby countries was declared as PHEIC in August 2024.
Why do these outbreaks raise such concerns?
1. All these outbreaks caused high morbidity and mortalities for the population. The consequences of those infections are still under research and caused high DALYs.
2. The pathogen is highly transmissible and required external helps to control and preventive measures.
3. Some pathogens are new strain and some are emerging diseases, so the investigation and treatment methods are not ready. This cause panic situation among the community.
4. Due to globalization nature, the infection can easily be imported between countries. This led to pandemic and affected for travels and trades, impacting the countries’ economics and development.
In your opinion, is there a disease or condition that may potentially lead to PHEIC in the future? Why?
From my opinion, the cholera may potentially lead to PHEIC in the future.
According to WHO, in 2024, there are 60 countries that reported cholera cases. The burden of the disease increased when compared to 2023 and 98% of all reported cases are from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
[Cholera upsurge https://share.google/EyZpXjb5pz19a2Ydo%5D
Due to unexpected occutof natural and man-made disasters, the basic sanitation infrastructures are damaging and will be difficult to access clean water. Increasing poverty, climate change, conflicts and misuse of antimicrobial drugs are also risk factors.
Not all countries have no adequate vaccines and cholera tools for measures and this is one of the disease to be monitored in resource poor regions.
