The 6th meeting of the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations 2005 (WGIHR6) has decided to focus on equity and allocate more time to the discussions on amendment proposals relating to equity in its upcoming 7th meeting, to be held on 5 to 9 February 2024.
Attempts to push for an early harvest approach on amendment proposals relating to surveillance, sanitary, and quarantine measures, and the structure and role of national authorities, were dropped due to resistance from developing countries.
WGIHR6 was held on 7 to 8 December 2023 at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, in a hybrid mode. The report of the meeting was adopted on 8 December.
During the adoption of report of the meeting the Co-chair from New Zealand reaffirmed the commitment to the need for the amended International Health Regulations (IHR) to address equity. He stated: “It’s heart; and it's really the key purpose and part of our original mandate”. The Co-chair also clarified that the WGIHR will continue its work up until May 2024, with an aim to reach consensus on a package of amendment proposals which could be then transmitted to the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2024.