The World Health Organization has declared the Coronavirus 2019-nCoV a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The declaration of PHEIC is rare. Upon its designation, various government agencies, healthcare institutions and other stakeholders are officially organized to act and escalate measures in collaboration with each other to combat the issue. The decision was made at a point as 171 persons in China have succumbed to the illness and the disease has spread to at least 18 other nations. PHEIC events of the past: Ebola, H1N1 Swine Flu, Polio WHO has deployed the emergency designation five times since the rules were implemented in the mid-2000s: Ebola virus, 2019, Zika virus, 2016, Polio outbreak, 2014. Ebola outbreak, 2014, Swine flu, 2009 Learn more about the World Health Organization and the PHEIC designation by reading this article from Bare Sky Marketing

1. … Coronavirus 2019-nCoV: A Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
Coronavirus 2019-nCoV: A Public
Health Emergency of International
Concern (PHEIC)
WHO has issued PHEIC status only 5 times before
Bare Sky Marketing — Healthcare Content Writing
Jan 30 · 5 min read
John G. Baresky
The World Health Organization has declared the Coronavirus 2019-nCoV a
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The declaration
of PHEIC is rare. Upon its designation, various government agencies,
healthcare institutions and other stakeholders are officially organized to act
and escalate measures in collaboration with each other to combat the issue.
The decision was made at a point as 171 persons in China have succumbed
to the illness and the disease has spread to at least 18 other nations.

2. PHEIC events of the past: Ebola, H1N1 Swine Flu, Polio
WHO has deployed the emergency designation five times since the rules
were implemented in the mid-2000s:
• Ebola virus, 2019
• Zika virus, 2016
• Polio outbreak, 2014
• Ebola outbreak, 2014
• Swine flu, 2009
Definition and guidelines about PHEIC designation
According to the World Health Organization:
The term Public Health Emergency of International Concern is defined in the
IHR (2005) as “an extraordinary event which is determined, as provided in
these Regulations…:
• “to constitute a public health risk to other States through the
international spread of disease”
• “to potentially require a coordinated international response”
This definition implies a situation that: is serious, unusual or unexpected; it
carries implications for public health beyond the affected State’s national
border and may require immediate international action.
The 2019-nCoV challenge may still be in its early stages
One of the unique challenges is the newly discovered status of Coronavirus
2019-nCoV (other coronavirus strains have been identified) and its unknown
ability to flourish and for that matter, what the overall severity of symptoms in
larger populations be. Timing is critical as northern hemisphere climes are
largely in the middle of their traditional Flu seasons.

3. If 2019-nCoV were to widely spread into these regions, it could be harder to
distinguish those cases from the expected Flu strain cases in those areas.
Why didn’t WHO declare Coronavirus N-CoV19 a PHEIC
sooner?
When WHO assigns PHEIC status to a particular circumstance, it is an
urgent paramount call to action. For any health emergency, the primary goal
is to resolve it as soon as possible. There are precautions to be considered,
however; as they were for Zika, Polio, H1N1, Ebola, based strictly on the
merits of Coronavirus N-CoV19 so that PHEIC designation is not given
prematurely.
Not to minimize events to be even considered for PHEIC
status, the level of alertness and action warranted by
PHEIC status is of extraordinarily high level
Lesser scale issues declared as PHEICs could sap attention and resources
from other significantly dangerous healthcare matters plus unnecessary
alarm and waste. As a result, other healthcare challenges could escalate
due to various supporting measures being steered away from them. Even
when an event is issued PHEIC status to be dealt with more assertively, it
does create its own set of challenges which could involve travel and trade
restrictions plus individual as well as sizable population inconveniences and
discomfort.
How does the World Health Organization decide on PHEIC
designation?
Conversationally speaking, WHO bases its decision on hard facts and
qualified opinions provided by their committee members and information
from healthcare professionals, government healthcare officials and input
from select thought leaders and authorities of the healthcare challenges at
hand.
• What is the scale of the threat risk to public health?
• How unusual or unexpected are the circumstances?

4. • What level of success thus far has been achieved in dealing with
the threat and in what direction is its momentum moving?
• How significant is the risk for international exposure as a disease
or other threat manifests itself?
• What is the level of risk that would require international travel and
trade restrictions?
Why isn’t there a vaccine for Coronavirus 2019-nCoV?
The discovery of Coronavirus 2019-nCoV is a recent event. Similar viruses
have been dealt with before and immunizations developed for them however
none would be effective against 2019-nCoV. As new virus strains emerge,
the severity of their symptoms and scale of their impact geographically on
people may not be significant and do not immediately warrant the time,
clinical and financial investment for an immunization to be developed for
them.
It took researchers about 20 months to develop a vaccine for SARS. While
several companies are now involved with creating a vaccine for Coronavirus
2019-nCoV, none are close to being fully developed for approval and
manufactured in mass quantities.
What U.S. government agencies are taking the lead in
aligning policies and procedures within the nation’s
borders based on the PHEIC designation by WHO?
Numerous government agencies and bureaus are taking an active role in
protecting the health and well-being of U.S. citizens from the threat of
Coronavirus. These are some of the primary stakeholders responsible for
safeguarding the country from healthcare threats originating from outside the
nation creating issues inside it:
• Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the
Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority
(BARDA) unit

5. • Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS) unit
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Moving forward, 2019-nCoV has earned global healthcare
top priority
Quite evidently, 2019-nCoV has met or exceeded the requirements for
PHEIC status. An escalation is underway between WHO, government
leaders and the global healthcare community to work together and put this
PHEIC behind us as soon as possible. It will be a learning experience for all
those involved and lead to even better responses and successes in dealing
with PHEIC challenges in the future.
Thank you for reading this story
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