COVID Is No Longer an Emergency

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• When does a disease declared as the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)?
• What does the PHEIC declaration mean?
• News Summary: Covid is no longer an emergency
• Background:
• Why did the WHO declare Covid-19 a PHEIC?
• Why has the WHO removed the designation now?
• How will the WHO declaration change disease management?

 

Why in news?

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Covid-19 was no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
• As per the WHO, the focus would now be on the long-term management of the infection.

 

Conflict Between North and South Korea

• Since the beginning of the 20th century, Korea had been a part of the Japanese empire, and after World War II it fell to the Americans and the Soviets.
  • In other words, after WW II, USA and USSR were to decide what should be done with their enemy’s (Japan’s) imperial possessions.
• In August 1945, Korean peninsula was divided in half along the 38th parallel. The Russians occupied the area north of the line and the United States occupied the area to its south.
• In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, starting the three-year Korean War. As a result, American troops had entered the war on South Korea’s behalf.
  • As far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism itself.
• Finally, in July 1953, the Korean War came to an end by signing of the armistice agreement in 1953.
• Since the signing of the armistice agreement, North and South Korea have been divided by a 4km wide demilitarised zone stretching 250km.

 

When does a disease declared as the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)?

• A disease is declared as a PHEIC when it meets certain criteria established by the World Health Organization (WHO). The criteria are as follows:
  • The disease must be serious, sudden, unusual, or unexpected.
  • There must be a significant risk of international spread.
  • There must be a significant risk of international travel or trade restrictions.
  • There must be a significant risk of interference with international public health measures.
• If a disease meets these criteria, the WHO Director-General may declare a PHEIC based on the advice of the Emergency Committee, a group of international experts in public health and other relevant fields.

 

What does the PHEIC declaration mean?

• A PHEIC is the strongest global alert the WHO can formally make and, when it is declared, countries have a legal duty to respond quickly.
• It is a formal declaration by the WHO that:
  • a disease or health event constitutes a public health risk to other countries through the international spread of disease, and
  • that a coordinated international response is required.
• When a PHEIC is declared, it allows the WHO to mobilize resources and coordinate the global response to the event.
• Examples of recent PHEIC declarations include the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

 

News Summary: Covid is no longer an emergency

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Covid-19 no longer represents a "global health emergency".
• The statement represents a major step towards ending the pandemic and comes three years after it first declared its highest level of alert over the virus.

 

Background:

• The novel viral infection came to light after China reported a cluster of pneumonia cases with no known cause from Wuhan on December 31, 2019.
• By the end of January 2020, nearly 10,000 cases had been reported, including more than 100 cases in 19 other countries.
• WHO raised its highest level of alert and termed the infection a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

 

Why did the WHO declare Covid-19 a PHEIC?

• In 2020 and 2021, Covid-19 fulfilled all the conditions required for a disease to be declared as the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
  • Globally, the number of infections has crossed 76.5 crore, and caused 69.2 lakh deaths.
  • India has reported 4.43 crore cases and 5.3 lakh deaths due to Covid-19 so far.

 

Why has the WHO removed the designation now?

• Nature of the virus known
  • Over the last three years, doctors and researchers have figured out a lot —
    • methods of transmission;
    • who are at highest risk of severe disease and death;
    • better, cheaper, and point-of-care diagnostics;
    • a treatment protocol that works;
    • medicines to prevent viral replication that can help in reducing severity of the disease; and
    • most importantly, vaccines that can prevent severe disease.
• Healthcare systems improved
  • Governments have strengthened healthcare systems and rolled out vaccination drives.
    • Since many were infected and vaccinated, the population has developed a hybrid immunity that has been shown to offer better protection against future severe disease.
  • Health systems are no longer stressed; focus is back on non-Covid conditions that were neglected during 2020 and 2021.
  • So, for a good part of 2022 and now 2023 Covid-19 did not satisfy the three conditions for a disease to be a public health emergency.

 

How will the WHO declaration change disease management?

• Not much will change on ground
  • There are no lockdowns; international travel, restaurants, and cinemas are normal; and containment and control measures haven’t been needed for some time now.
  • So, not much will change on ground with the WHO declaration.
• Reduced surveillance
  • At the moment, no practical impact to the common man, but surveillance may stop or reduce greatly.
    • There is need to look out only for variants that can be dangerous and disruptive.
    • The focus of surveillance has to be on hospitalised cases and the variants causing it.
    • Community level surveillance can be through waste-water and detection of clusters.

 

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Q1) What is a Pandemic?

A pandemic is an outbreak of an infectious disease that spreads across multiple countries and continents, affecting a large number of people. The term "pandemic" is typically used to describe the worldwide spread of a disease, as opposed to an epidemic, which is more localized to a specific region or community. Pandemics can occur when a new strain of a virus or bacteria emerges, or when a previously contained disease becomes more virulent or resistant to treatment. Examples of pandemics in recent history include the COVID-19 pandemic, the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009, and the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.

 

Q2) What is World Health Organization (WHO)?

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) responsible for promoting and protecting public health worldwide. Established in 1948, the WHO's primary objective is to provide leadership on global health matters, set health priorities, and provide technical support to countries to achieve better health outcomes.

 

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Source: Covid is no longer an emergency: what changes? | WHO | CNN Health | BBC