The world has a new set of rules for dealing with diseases, such as flu or SARS, that cross borders easily. On Monday, the World Health Assembly, an annual meeting of 192 governments in Geneva, Switzerland, approved regulations making it mandatory for countries to detect and respond to infectious diseases within their borders, notify the World Health Organization (WHO) within 24 hours of any outbreak that could threaten other countries, and collaborate in investigating and controlling such outbreaks.
Similar International Health Regulations have existed for half a century. But even the latest version from 1981 was widely considered outdated; for one, it didn't cover newly emerging infections. The revised treaty, which will formally take effect in 2007, has been debated for more than 10 years. The issue became more urgent in 2003, when China risked a wide spread of SARS by hiding the extent of its outbreak --behavior that would violate the new rules. Although WHO has no sanctions for countries that violate the new regimen, "this gives us much clearer ground rules," says WHO'S Max Hardiman.
