Public Health Emergency of International Concern
On January 30, 2020, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared in Geneva the novel coronavirus outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern."
According to the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), a public health emergency of international concern is an unusual event that poses public health risk to other countries through international spread of the disease and may require a coordinated international response. After an epidemic has been declared a public health emergency of international concern, member states of the WHO all have the legal responsibility to respond quickly.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that he was impressed by the mobilization of the Chinese leadership and the Chinese people to fight against the epidemic, noting that China has taken extraordinary measures to contain the outbreak and is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response. He highly appreciated China's commitment to transparency and to protecting the world's people, and stressed that the WHO believed that China's epidemic could be contained and doesn't recommend and actually opposes any restrictions for travel and trade or other measures against China.
Since the entry into force of the IHR (2005), the WHO has announced six public health emergencies of international concern: the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the 2014 Ebola epidemic, the 2014 wild poliovirus epidemic, the 2016 Zika virus epidemic, the 2019 Ebola epidemic, and the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.
国际关注的突发公共卫生事件
2020年1月30日，世界卫生组织总干事谭德塞在日内瓦召开新闻发布会，宣布新冠病毒疫情为国际关注的突发公共卫生事件。《国际卫生条例（2005）》规定，国际关注的突发公共卫生事件是指通过疾病的国际传播构成对其它国家的公共卫生风险并可能需要采取协调一致的国际应对措施的不同寻常的事件。在某种疫情被宣布为国际关注的突发公共卫生事件后，各成员国均负有作出迅速反应的法律责任。
谭德塞表示，为中国领导层和中国人民抗击疫情的决心感到震撼，中国采取了超常规的有力措施，在很多方面为应对疫情作出了榜样。他十分赞赏中国在应对疫情方面展现出的高透明度，强调世卫组织相信中国的疫情一定能够得到遏制，不赞成甚至反对对中国采取旅行或贸易禁令。
自《国际卫生条例（2005）》生效以来，世界卫生组织共宣布了六次国际关注的突发公共卫生事件：2009年甲型H1N1流感疫情，2014年埃博拉疫情，2014年野生型脊髓灰质炎疫情，2016年寨卡病毒疫情，2019年埃博拉疫情和2020年新冠肺炎疫情。