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Public Health & Epidemiology vocabulary · Global Health and Health Systems

Public health emergency of international concern

Meaning in public health & epidemiology, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In public health & epidemiology, public health emergency of international concern means: An extraordinary event that WHO formally declares because it is a public health risk to other countries through international spread and may need a coordinated international response.

In Turkish: uluslararası halk sağlığı acil durumu, uluslararası önemi olan halk sağlığı acil durumu

How it is used

Shortened to PHEIC and often pronounced 'fake'. The WHO Director-General declares it on the advice of an Emergency Committee under the IHR. Examples include H1N1 influenza in 2009, Zika in 2016, COVID-19 in 2020 and mpox in 2022 and 2024.

Example sentences

  1. WHO declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern in January 2020.

  2. The Emergency Committee met to decide whether the event was a public health emergency of international concern.

Common collocations

  • declare a PHEIC
  • Emergency Committee
  • temporary recommendations
  • end a PHEIC
  • International Health RegulationsA legally binding international agreement that sets out how countries and WHO must detect, report and respond to public health risks that may spread across borders.
  • WHOShort for the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency for international public health, founded in 1948 and based in Geneva.
  • pandemicAn epidemic that spreads across several countries or continents and affects a very large number of people.
  • outbreakA sudden rise in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected, usually limited to one place, group or event.

More terms: Global Health and Health Systems

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.