Julia Adams David Scales Yale University
Global control of infectious diseases requires multi-state cooperation, but current perspectives on global governance and international law fail to explain why member states would empower the World Health Organization (WHO) with unprecedented license over surveillance and control of international public health crises. This project will examine how the latest version of the International Health Regulations (IHR), which are intended to govern the behavior of the WHO and member states during potential and real epidemic emergencies, changes the relationship between the WHO and its member states. The main questions are: what are the factors that the WHO weighs before declaring an epidemic emergency? How do member states respond to WHO inquiries after that decision is made?
To answer these questions and evaluate my expectations, the study examines historical documents to map prior policies and practices for responding to epidemics under the previous set of regulations. The co-PI will then undertake an ethnography at WHO headquarters in Geneva and conduct in-depth interviews of health officials in order to analyze discussions that determine what situations are labeled epidemics.
Broader Impact: This research will illuminate how the WHO makes decisions, offering an opportunity for the organization itself to reflect and improve on that process. Epidemics have the potential to affect all parts of society, so knowledge of how states and the WHO interact during these emergencies should enable us to save more lives by responding more quickly and efficiently to these situations.
