Public Health Emergency of International Concern
On January 30, 2020, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared in Geneva the novel coronavirus outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern."
According to the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), a public health emergency of international concern is an unusual event that poses public health risk to other countries through international spread of the disease and may require a coordinated international response. After an epidemic has been declared a public health emergency of international concern, member states of the WHO all have the legal responsibility to respond quickly.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that he was impressed by the mobilization of the Chinese leadership and the Chinese people to fight against the epidemic, noting that China has taken extraordinary measures to contain the outbreak and is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response. He highly appreciated China's commitment to transparency and to protecting the world's people, and stressed that the WHO believed that China's epidemic could be contained and doesn't recommend and actually opposes any restrictions for travel and trade or other measures against China.
Since the entry into force of the IHR (2005), the WHO has announced six public health emergencies of international concern: the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the 2014 Ebola epidemic, the 2014 wild poliovirus epidemic, the 2016 Zika virus epidemic, the 2019 Ebola epidemic, and the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.
國際關注的突發公共衛生事件
2020年1月30日，世界衛生組織總干事譚德塞在日內瓦召開新聞發布會，宣布新冠病毒疫情為國際關注的突發公共衛生事件。《國際衛生條例（2005）》規定，國際關注的突發公共衛生事件是指通過疾病的國際傳播構成對其它國家的公共衛生風險并可能需要采取協調一致的國際應對措施的不同尋常的事件。在某種疫情被宣布為國際關注的突發公共衛生事件后，各成員國均負有作出迅速反應的法律責任。
譚德塞表示，為中國領導層和中國人民抗擊疫情的決心感到震撼，中國采取了超常規的有力措施，在很多方面為應對疫情作出了榜樣。他十分贊賞中國在應對疫情方面展現出的高透明度，強調世衛組織相信中國的疫情一定能夠得到遏制，不贊成甚至反對對中國采取旅行或貿易禁令。
自《國際衛生條例（2005）》生效以來，世界衛生組織共宣布了六次國際關注的突發公共衛生事件：2009年甲型H1N1流感疫情，2014年埃博拉疫情，2014年野生型脊髓灰質炎疫情，2016年寨卡病毒疫情，2019年埃博拉疫情和2020年新冠肺炎疫情。