Annual reporting to the World Health Assembly

A mandatory requirement of the IHR

States Parties are required to report to the World Health Assembly annually on the progress of International Health Regulations (IHR) implementation (Article 54 of the IHR (2005)).

According to countries’ self-assessments for 2016, IHR implementation in the WHO European Region is around 80% for most of the IHR core capacities. The lowest levels of implementation are for points of entry (64%) and human resources (42%).

WHO support and tools

WHO helps countries to review and monitor progress, to prepare their annual report and develop national action plans for IHR implementation.
The annual reporting questionnaire is a WHO tool that helps countries provide information on progress in their development of core capacity for IHR implementation in a standardized format. The compilation of the questionnaire provides a snapshot of country capacities in relevant technical areas, and tracks progress using standardized indicators.

National IHR focal points play an important role as they usually facilitate the compilation of the questionnaire in collaboration with professionals from public health and other sectors responsible for implementing the IHR, such as animal health; food and water safety; environmental health; and radiological, nuclear and chemical disciplines.