The first international maps were published today to LawAtlas.org.

The four new maps, each featuring laws in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, and Switzerland, are the outcome of a pilot phase of a project to capture a detailed view of the implementation of Article 2 of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) IHR(2005), to prevent, protect against, control, and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease.

IHR(2005) is a binding instrument of international law aimed at preventing, protecting, controlling, and responding to the international spread of disease. The regulations are binding for 194 nations, including all WHO member states.

“The release of this project represents a huge milestone for our Center ” said Policy Surveillance Program director Lindsay Cloud, Esq. “This project afforded our researchers the unique opportunity to work in close collaboration with in-country lawyers and public health experts from Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, and Switzerland to overcome challenges that accompany global policy surveillance work in real-time, side-by-side. As additional European countries apply this existing framework to their national legislation, this resource will continue to grow in value as we seek to measure  how laws affect the international spread of disease.”

Each map captures the national-level law in the four countries related to Article 2 of the IHR(2005): prevention, preparation, surveillance and alert, and response.

Researchers at the Institute of Health Law at the University of Neuchâtel, in partnership with the Center for Public Health Law Research, Legal Science, LLC, in-country lawyers, and national and WHO subject matter experts, were supported by funding from the European office of the WHO and the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (SFOPH).