Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Government's position is on each of the proposed amendments to the World Health Organisation International Health Regulations 2005.
The United Kingdom supports targeted amendments of the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 alongside improvements to increase implementation to strengthen the preparedness for and response to future health emergencies in light of lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are a number of areas within the Global Health architecture which we hope to strengthen and reform through the IHR amendment process; for example, transparency, timeliness of reporting and the Emergency Committee processes. Negotiations are currently ongoing, and the UK Government continues to work closely with World Health Organization member states in ensuring positive outcomes from the negotiations.