Last updated: 10.06.2016 //
Norway appreciates the report of the Review Committee on the Role of the International Health Regulations (2005) in the Ebola Outbreak and Response and its recommendations.
Now is the time to follow up the report with concrete action. In our view, Member States should, as relevant to their national circumstances, take forward the recommendations contained in the report.
However, several of the recommendations concern new institutional arrangements, or global strategic initiatives. These are not issues that can be followed up individually by states.
We expect WHO to take an active lead in addressing those recommendations. The organisation is the lead agency for the IHR, and bears the responsibility for ensuring that the processes necessary to discuss, decide on and implement these recommendations takes place. The draft Decision Point in our view fails to act on this responsibility.
Consequently, we see the need for a further process, at a minimum on recommendations 2, 3 and 6, with a view to discussing and deciding on implementation of these recommendations at the 140th session of the Executive Board. We would welcome a proposal for a revised decision point.
Beyond that, we trust WHO Secretariat to come up with concrete actions to follow-up the recommendations, as well as to provide technical support to Member States in implementing the recommendations of the Review Committee.
Our goal must be to avoid a repetition of the outcome of the 2011 IHR Review Committee, whose recommendations were insufficiently acted upon. A good starting point would be to avoid a decision on follow-up that largely mirrors the one adopted in 2011.