Infographic: International Health Regulations (IHR) Protecting people every day

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International Health Regulations (IHR) Protecting people every day:

What are the IHR?

The International Health Regulations (IHR) represent an agreement between 196 countries, including all WHO Member States, to work together for global health security. Under the IHR, all countries must report events of international public health importance.

The IHR require that all countries can: 

Detect:
Make sure surveillance systems and laboratories can detect potential threats

Assess:
Work together with other countries to make decisions in public health emergencies

Report:
Report specific diseases, plus any potential international public health emergencies

Respond:
Respond to public health events

We share a responsibility to protect our world from outbreaks of infectious diseases and other health threats. The goal of the IHR is to stop events in their tracks before they become international emergencies.