Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his polices of the amendments to World Health Organization's International Health Regulations; and when he plans to publish his response to those proposed amendments.

The negotiations taking place at the World Health Organization (WHO) on the proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) are Member State led and no text or amendments have been agreed yet. We anticipate negotiations to continue until the 76th WHO World Health Assembly in May 2024.

The United Kingdom continues to negotiate the text of the amendments to the IHR to ensure they deliver on our priorities and provide the tools to achieve improvements globally in key areas of health emergency preparedness, prevention, and response.