Hold a parliamentary vote on whether to reject amendments to the IHR 2005
116,391 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 3 April 2023; it closed on 3 October 2023. The Government responded on 4 July 2023. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 18 December 2023.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Hold a parliamentary vote on whether to reject amendments to the IHR 2005
We are concerned that Parliament has not discussed and will not have a say on the 307 proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations, AND the amendments to 5 Articles of the IHR that were ADOPTED by the 75th World Health Assembly on 27 May 2022.
The amendments that were adopted on 27 May 2022 have not been debated in or voted on by Parliament. The UK has the authority to reject them under Article 61 of the IHR, but any such rejection must be within 18 months of their adoption.
Parliament must be given the opportunity to vote on whether to reject the amendments that have already been adopted, and also the 307 proposed amendments that are currently being negotiated by the UK delegates to the 76th World Health Assembly. The UK has not proposed any of the 307 amendments.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 4 July 2023; the petitions site lists the Department of Health and Social Care as responsible. Its summary:
We support targeted IHR amendments to ensure a suitable global framework to respond to international spread of disease. Parliament may scrutinise legislation relating to amendments accepted by the UK.
The opening 381 words of the 596-word response:
The UK and 195 other countries adopted the current version, of the International Health Regulations (IHR) in 2005 and they came into force on 15 June 2007. The IHR are a legally binding international instrument that form a key part of the global health system, providing a technical framework to prevent, protect against, control, and respond to cross-border health threats. The UK wants to ensure that countries’ obligations under the IHR remain fit for purpose and take into consideration relevant lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic. The best way to protect the UK from the next pandemic is by ensuring all countries can contain and respond to outbreaks through compliance with strengthened IHR.
The Government is supporting the process of agreeing targeted amendments of the IHR as a means of strengthening preparedness for and response to future health emergencies; including through increasing compliance and implementation of the IHR; improving transparency; and speeding up timeliness of reporting.
At the 75th World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2022, WHO’s Member States including the UK agreed a process to negotiate and agree targeted amendments to the IHR and by consensus adopted one process-related amendment under Article 59 of IHR (2005) which reduces the time for future amendments to come into force.
The 75th WHA also agreed a process for the amendments to the IHR. This included the ability of Member States to submit proposed amendments for consideration and the formation of a Working Group made up of all WHO Member States, including the UK, through which the amendments would be negotiated and agreed. Member States agreed to submit the targeted amendments which will have been negotiated and agreed to the 77th WHA in May 2024. For the amendments to be considered adopted, at least two thirds of WHO’s 194 Member States that are present and voting will need to agree to them. The proposed amendments and relevant papers including reports from the Working Groups are available on the WHO website.
The process of negotiating the amendments began in November 2022. The UK is an active party to that process and will continue to work with our international partners to achieve a good outcome for the UK. The amendments to the IHR are still subject to discussion during the Working Group.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 410, came from Isle of Wight.
113,607 of the signatures were from the UK and 2,784 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Isle of Wight | 410 |
| Wealden | 403 |
| Totnes | 337 |
| Wells | 333 |
| Stroud | 328 |
| Eastbourne | 327 |
| West Dorset | 325 |
| Bexhill and Battle | 322 |
| Hastings and Rye | 321 |
| Somerton and Frome | 316 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 18,484 |
| North West | 12,590 |
| South West | 12,522 |
| London | 12,203 |
| East of England | 11,110 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 8,462 |
| Scotland | 8,405 |
| West Midlands | 8,097 |
| East Midlands | 7,909 |
| Wales | 5,767 |
| North East | 4,198 |
| Northern Ireland | 2,677 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 18 December 2023. Read the debate in Hansard.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/635904.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
e51f72f798c1e4a3… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.