International Health Regulations Act, 1974 (Act No. 28 of 1974)International Health RegulationsPart II : Notifications and Epidemiological Information |
Article 2
For the application of these Regulations, each State recognizes the right of the Organization to communicate directly with the health administration of its territory or territories. Any notification or information sent by the Organization to the health administration shall be considered as having been sent to the State, and any notification or information sent by the health administration to the Organization shall be considered as having been sent by the State.
Article 3
| 1) | Each health administration shall notify the Organization by telegram or telex within twenty-four hours of its being informed that the first case of a disease subject to the Regulations, that is neither an imported case nor a transferred case, has occurred in its territory, and, within the subsequent twenty-four hours, notify the infected area. |
| 2) | In addition each health administration shall notify the Organization by telegram or telex within twenty-four hours of its being informed; |
| a) | that one or more cases of a disease subject to the Regulations has been imported or transferred into a non-infected area-the notification to include all information available on the origin of infection; |
| b) | that a ship or aircraft has arrived with one or more cases of a disease subject to the Regulations on board-the notification to include the name of the ship or the flight number of the aircraft, its previous and subsequent ports of call, and the health measures, if any, taken with respect to the ship or aircraft. |
| 3) | The existence of the disease so notified on the establishment of a reasonably certain clinical diagnosis shall be confirmed as soon as possible by laboratory methods, as far as resources permit, and the result shall be sent immediately to the Organization by telegram or telex. |
Article 4
| 1) | Each health administration shall notify the Organization immediately of evidence of the presence of the virus of yellow fever, including the virus found in mosquitoes or in vertebrates other than man, or the plague bacillus, in any part of its territory, and shall report the extent of the area involved. |
| 2) | Health administrations, when making a notification of rodent plague, shall distinguish wild rodent plague from domestic rodent plague and, in the case of the former, describe the epidemiological circumstances and the area involved. |
Article 5
Any notification required under paragraph 1 of Article 3 shall be promptly supplemented by information as to the source and type of the disease, the number of cases and deaths, the conditions affecting the spread of the disease, and the prophylactic measures taken.
Article 6
| 1) | During an epidemic the notifications and information required under Article 3 and Article 5 shall be followed by subsequent communications sent at regular intervals to the Organization. |
| 2) | These communications shall be as frequent and as detailed as possible. The number of cases and deaths shall be communicated at least once a week. The precautions taken to prevent the spread of the disease, in particular the measures which are being applied to prevent the spread of the disease to other territories by ships, aircraft, trains, road vehicles, other means of transport, and containers leaving the infected area shall be stated. In the case of plague, the measures taken against rodents shall be specified. In the case of the diseases subject to the Regulations which are transmitted by insect vectors, the measures taken against such vectors shall also be specified. |
Article 7
| 1) | The health administration for a territory in which an infected area has been defined and notified shall notify the Organization when that area is free from infection. |
| 2) | An infected area may be considered as free from infection when all measures of prophylaxis have been taken and maintained to prevent the recurrence of the disease or its spread to other areas, and when: |
| a) | in the case of plague, cholera or smallpox, a period of time equal to at least twice the incubation period of the disease, as hereinafter provided, has elapsed since the last case identified has died, recovered or been isolated, and there is no epidemiological evidence of spread of that disease to any contiguous area; |
| b) |
| i) | in the case of yellow fever not transmitted by Aedes aegypti, three months have elapsed without evidence of activity of the yellow-fever virus; |
| ii) | in the case of yellow fever transmitted by Aedes aegypti three months have elapsed since the occurrence of the last human case, or one month since that occurrence if the Aedes aegypti index has been continuously maintained below one per cent; |
| c) |
| i) | in the case of plague in domestic rodents, one month has elapsed since the last infected animal was found or trapped; |
| ii) | in the case of plague in wild rodents, three months have elapsed without evidence of the disease in sufficient proximity to ports and airports to be a threat to international traffic. |
Article 8
| 1) | Each health administration shall notify the Organization of: |
| a) | the measures which it has decided to apply to arrivals from an infected area and the withdrawal of any such measures, indicating the date of application or withdrawal; |
| b) | any change in its requirements as to vaccination for any international voyage. |
| 2) | Any such notification shall be sent by telegram or telex, and whenever possible in advance of any such change or of the application or withdrawal of any such measure. |
| 3) | Each health administration shall send to the Organization once a year, at a date to be fixed by the Organization, a recapitulation of its requirements as to vaccination for any international voyage. |
| 4) | Each health administration shall take steps to inform prospective travellers, through the cooperation of, as appropriate, travel agencies, shipping firms, aircraft operators or by other means, of its requirements and of any modifications thereto. |
Article 9
In addition to the notifications and information required under Articles 3 to 8 inclusive, each health administration shall send to the Organization weekly:
| a) | a report by telegram or telex of the number of cases of the diseases subject to the Regulations and deaths therefrom during the previous week in each of its towns and cities adjacent to a port or an airport, including any imported or transferred cases; |
| b) | a report by airmail of the absence of such cases during the periods referred to in subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph 2 of Article 7. |
Article 10
Any notification and information required under Articles 3 to 9 inclusive shall also be sent by the health administration, on request, to any diplomatic mission or consulate established in the territory for which it is responsible.
Article 11
| 1) | The Organization shall send to all health administrations, as soon as possible and by the means appropriate to the circumstances, all epidemiological and other information which it has received under Articles 3 to 8 inclusive and paragraph (a) of Article 9 as well as information as to the absence of any returns required by Article 9. Communications of an urgent nature shall be sent by telegram, telex or telephone. |
| 2) | Any additional epidemiological data and other information available to the Organization through its surveillance programme shall be made available, when appropriate, to all health administrations. |
| 3) | The Organization may, with the consent of the government concerned, investigate an outbreak of a disease subject to the Regulations which constitutes a serious threat to neighbouring countries or to international health. Such investigation shall be directed to assist governments to organize appropriate control measures and may include on-the-spot studies by a team. |
Article 12
Any telegram or telex sent, or telephone call made, for the purposes of Articles 3 to 8 inclusive and Article 11 shall be given the priority appropriate to the circumstances; in any case of exceptional urgency, where there is risk of the spread of a disease subject to the Regulations, the priority shall be the highest available under international telecommunication agreements.
Article 13
| 1) | Each State shall forward annually to the Organization, in accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of the Organization, information concerning the occurrence of any case of a disease subject to the Regulations due to or carried by international traffic, as well as on the action taken under these Regulations or bearing upon their application. |
| 2) | The Organization shall, on the basis of the information required by paragraph 1 of this Article, of the notifications and reports required by these Regulations, and of any other official information, prepare an annual report on the functioning of these Regulations and on their effect on international traffic. |
| 3) | The Organization shall review the epidemiological trends of the diseases subject to the Regulations and shall publish such data, not less than once a year, illustrated with maps showing infected and free areas of the world, and any other relevant information obtained from the surveillance programme of the Organization. |