What the WHO Coronavirus Declaration Means - TIME
What the WHO Coronavirus Declaration Means - TIME |
| What the WHO Coronavirus Declaration Means - TIME Posted: 30 Jan 2020 01:45 PM PST  The World Health Organization (WHO) took the rare step Thursday of declaring a novel coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). But what does that actually mean? The WHO defines a PHEIC as an "extraordinary event" that "constitute[s] a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease" and "potentially require[s] a coordinated international response." Since that framework was defined in 2005—two years after another coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), spread through China—it has been used only six times: for outbreaks of "swine flu" in 2009, polio in 2014, Ebola in 2014, Zika virus in 2016, Ebola in 2019 and, now, coronavirus in 2020. A PHEIC is meant to mobilize international response to an outbreak. It's an opportunity for the WHO, with guidance from its International Health Regulations Emergency Committee, to implement "non-binding but practically & politically significant measures that can address travel, trade, quarantine, screening, treatment. WHO can also set global standards of practice," the organization tweeted. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that, at its core, a PHEIC is about prompting countries to work together to contain a threat. It is not about punishing China, nor doubting its ability to contain the outbreak, he said at a press conference Thursday. Related Stories  "This declaration is not because China is not doing what it can," Ghebreyesus said. "It's actually doing more than what China is required to do. [The PHEIC is about] protecting countries with weaker health systems." In this case, the WHO advises countries not to unnecessarily restrict travel and trade to China; to support nations with weaker health systems; accelerate the development of vaccines and treatments; stop the spread of rumors and misinformation; work to treat those who are already sick while limiting spread; share knowledge with the WHO and other countries; and work together "in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation." In a statement also released Thursday, the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, an independent body that works toward preparedness for global health crises, encouraged nations to invest in their own public health and outbreak response systems while supporting the WHO's Contingency Fund for Emergencies. Countries are not compelled to contribute based on the PHEIC designation, but Ghebreyesus tweeted that the WHO "welcome[s] their call for countries to sustainably finance WHO's preparedness and response activities."  |
| Bill would let R.I. enter compact to reward disease cures - The Providence Journal Posted: 30 Jan 2020 05:20 PM PST House Majority Leader K. Joseph Shekarchi wants to raise billions of dollars in prize money to reward any company that finds a cure for chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer. To do it, the Warwick Democrat introduced a bill Thursday that would have Rhode Island enter into a multi-state agreement to set up, pay for and give out awards for medical cures. The compact is being championed by Ohio Republican state Rep. Jim Butler, who has been traveling the country promoting it and trying to get other states to sign on. After Ohio passed his "cure bill" last summer and became the compact's charter member, he needs five more states to sign on. Shekarchi said Butler convinced him about the compact last year, and the Ohio lawmaker was in Rhode Island last week to discuss it. Rep. Robert Phillips, D-Woonsocket, is a cosponsor and has also worked on the bill, Shekarchi said. "I suffer from a chronic disease, type 2 diabetes, and I thought this would be a good idea," Shekarchi said. "Quite frankly the federal government can't pass a lot of substantive legislation. They seem to be paralyzed and a lot of this stuff would fall to the states to accomplish." If at least six states agree to join and the compact launches, a committee representing the member states would decide which chronic diseases it wants to offer prizes for, according to a copy of the bill provided by Shekarchi. Then each member state would pay into the prize pool based on how much those diseases increase their public-health expenses. Shekarchi didn't have an estimate of how much Rhode Island's share of the prize pool would be and said the size of the reward would depend on the size and number of the states participating. He said the state would probably need to approve borrowing to provide an upfront contribution for the prize pool, but if a cure proved effective, the resulting savings over the long run would more than make up for it. Drug companies of course, make plenty of money without taxpayer-funded prizes, but Shekarchi said the problem is that the market incentives encourage them to develop treatments they can sell under patent for many years instead of drugs that might cure a disease and potentially eradicate the need to spend money on it. "This has to do with a cure, not to find another treatment, to find another cure, like the cure for polio," Shekarchi said. "Drug companies have obligations to shareholders. I want to incentivize this so drug companies and venture capitalists are interested. If you create a prize worth billions, you are incentivizing it." The prize committee would decide if a treatment was effective enough to qualify as a cure and could claim a prize. To claim a prize, an entrant would have to transfer the rights for the new treatment over to the prize commission, which would then arrange for it to be manufactured and sold at cost, according to a copy of the bill.  |
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