No One is Leaving this Time: Appraisal of Awareness and Knowledge of Port Health Officers on International Health Regulation IHR (2005)
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ES Journal of Public Health
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Abstract
Background: Historically, ships have played an important role in transmitting infectious diseases around the
world. The spread of cholera pandemics in the 19th century was thought to be linked to trade routes and facilitated
by merchant shipping. The international maritime traffic of people and goods has often contributed to the spread of
pathogens affecting public health.
Objectives: To assess level of awareness and knowledge of international Health regulation (IHR 2005) content
among port health officer
Methods: The study design was descriptive cross-sectional evaluation, questionnaires were used to capture the
respondents’ knowledge, awareness and sanitary condition of ship in accordance with (IHR 2005)
Results: On awareness and knowledge, Majority of the respondent (77.1 %) demonstrate good awareness of the IHR
(2005), while 22.9% had not and some even testified of hearing the said document for the first time. Despite the fact that
majority of respondent were aware but only 24.6% of them can actually demonstrate good knowledge of IHR (2005) and
its intent to protect and prevent spread of disease along the international route.
Conclusion: There is need to improve the knowledge of port health officers by expand training and guidance on
application of the IHR’s to frontline officer at point of entries. Also ensure more thorough inspection and avoid influence
of ship agent during inspection of ship.
Description
Historically, ships have played an important role in
transmitting infectious diseases around the world. The
spread of cholera pandemics in the 19th century was
thought to be linked to trade routes and facilitated by
merchant shipping [1,2]. According to Katz and Fischer
[3] in the 1800s, the global community recognized the
potential spread of diseases (particularly cholera, plague
and yellow fever) across international borders [4,5].
Quarantine was used to prevent the spread of these
diseases across international borders and this brought
2/6
Citation: Adiama YB, Adewoye SO, Olaniyi OA, Lateefat HM, Ahmed A, Raimi MO. No One is Leaving this Time: Appraisal of Awareness and Knowledge
of Port Health Officers on International Health Regulation IHR (2005). ES J Public Health. 2022; 3(1): 1013.
ES Journal of Public Health
about the implementation of the International Health
Regulations (IHR). The International Sanitary Regulations
were first adopted in 1951. In 1969, they were renamed
as the International Health Regulations (IHR). The
1951 IHR were intended to monitor and control six
serious infectious diseases: cholera, plague, yellow fever,
smallpox, relapsing fever and typhus. In the intervening
50 years, many developments affected the international
transmission of disease, including changes in international
ship traffic. Therefore, on 23 May 2005, the World Health
Assembly adopted a revised IHR by way of resolution
WHA58.3, which entered into force on 15 June 2007. At
the same time, the IHR clarifies a series of procedures that
should be observed by the WHO to protect global public
health safety [6]. The revised IHR focuses on public health
crisis prevention, which has been expanded from certain
“quarantine diseases” to any public health emergencies
that may cause international repercussions. The
implementation of the IHR shifts from the passive barrier
of entry and exit points to the proactive risk management,
aiming at early detection of any international threat before
its formation and at stopping it from the very beginning
[7]
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Citation
Adiama YB, Adewoye SO, Olaniyi OA, Lateefat HM, Ahmed A, Raimi MO. No One is Leaving this Time: Appraisal of Awareness and Knowledge of Port Health Officers on International Health Regulation IHR (2005). ES J Public Health. 2022; 3(1): 1013.