Study On The Application Of Additional Health Measures Under The International Health Regulations

As a framework document in the field of global public health security,the International Health Regulations are the only legally binding international treaty in the field of infectious disease control to date.The IHR,as amended in 2005,adds a regime of additional health measures to empower Member States to implement complementary trade restrictions and travel restrictions in response to specific public health risks and public health emergencies of international concern.However,in the past several infectious disease prevention and control practices,the implementation of the system of additional health measures has not been satisfactory,and the vast majority of member countries have ignored the recommendations of the World Health Organization,arbitrarily expanded their discretion,adopted excessive additional health measures,caused serious disruption to international traffic and trade,and affected the effectiveness of the International Health Regulations,so the application of additional health measures has returned to the attention of the international community.Starting from the content of Article 43 of the IHR,the applicable requirements of additional health measures can be divided into applicable prerequisites,substantive elements,procedural elements and dispute settlement mechanisms,which serve as an important basis for judging whether the additional health measures taken by Member States are scientific and reasonable.At the same time,combined with the regulation of trade restrictions and travel restrictions in the SPS Agreement under the WTO framework and the ICCPR in the field of human rights,the overall grasp of the system of additional health measures is further realized.Although the state has the right to take additional health measures on its own for the purpose of prudent prevention and control,this does not mean that restrictions can be taken arbitrarily.From the perspective of the practice of infectious disease prevention and control,it is common for some member countries to adopt health measures such as border closures and travel bans,which not only do not help the epidemic control,but also worsen the world economy under the spread of the epidemic.Ambiguous standards for the application of additional health measures,weakened oversight mechanisms,and weak dispute resolution mechanisms need to be addressed urgently.In this regard,clarifying the applicable standards of additional health measures,giving full play to the leading role of WHO,and reforming the dispute mechanism for additional health measures have become a reasonable solution path for improving the system of additional health measures under the International Health Regulations and realizing global response to public health risks.As a member of the International Health Regulations,China was also a victim of excessive additional health measures,and suffered severe losses in cross-border trade and traffic flows in the early days of the outbreak.Today,in the post-epidemic era,China has proposed to the international community for the first time the concept of building a "community of human health and health",and in order to cope with the infectious disease crisis that may reappear in the future,China has the responsibility and ability to actively participate in the reform of the additional health measures system.