Poliovirus IHR Emergency Committee
The IHR Emergency Committee concerning ongoing events and context involving transmission and international spread of poliovirus held its first meeting on 28 and 29 April 2014 and continues to meet every three months. On 5 May 2014, on the advice of the Committee, the WHO Director-General declared the international spread of wild poliovirus in 2014 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and issued corresponding Temporary Recommendations.
Statements
Chair
Professor Helen Rees
Executive Director
Members
Dr Salah T. Al Awaidy
Communicable Diseases Adviser to Health Affairs, Ministry of Health, Muscat, Oman
Dr Yagob Yousef Al-Mazrou
Former Secretary General-Saudi Health Council, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Dr Vanessa Field
Deputy Director of the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC), London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Rose Leke
Former Head of Immunology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé, Cameroon
Professor John S. Mackenzie
Emeritus Professor, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Professor Mahmudur Rahman
Director, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research and National Influenza Centre, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dr Muhammad Salman
Principal Scientific Officer, Department of Microbiology and Virology, Public Health Laboratory Division, National Institute of Health PAKISTAN
Dr Oyewale Tomori
Member of the Global Virome Project Leadership Board
Advisers
Dr Cara Burns
Acting Branch Chief, Polio & Picornavirus Laboratory Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States of America
Former members
Dr Sayed Ataullah Saeedzai
Director General of Evaluation and Health Information System and IHR National Focal Point, Ministry of Public Health, Kabul, Afghanistan
Dr Assad Hafeez
Executive Director, Health Services Academy, Islamabad, Pakistan
Dr Anton M. van Loon
Former Head of the Department of Virology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
Dr Khowaja Mir Islam Saeed
Surveillance Director of the Ministry of Public Health, Kabul, Afghanistan
Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo
Head of Port Health Services, Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, Nigeria
Dr Theresa Tam
Chief Public Health Officer, Public Health Agency of Canada, Canada
Dr Yu Wang
Former Director-General of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
Dr Annelies Wilder-Smith
Professor at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Dr Jane Zuckerman
Consultant in Travel Medicine, Royal Free London Travel Health & Immunization Clinic, Royal Free London National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Dr Stephen Cochi
Senior Advisor to the Director, Global Immunization Division, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, United States of America
Dr Olga E. Ivanova
Acting Director of Mikhail Petrovich Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitis, Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Former advisers
Dr Anthony Evand
Chief, Aviation Medicine Section, International Civil Aviation Organization, Montreal, Canada
Dr Mark A. Pallansch
Director, Division of Viral Diseases, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, United States of America
Mr John Rainford
Director, The Warning Project, Ottawa, Canada
Dr Peter A. Singer
Chief Executive Officer, Grand Challenges Canada; Director, Sandra Rotman Centre, University Health Network; Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Marsha L. Vanderford
Former Director, Department of Communications, WHO
Declarations of Interests - current and former members and advisers
Dr Yagob Yousef Al-Mazrou
Dr Al-Mazrou is also Chair of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Certification Commission for the Eradication of Poliomyelitis
Professor Rose Gana Fomban Leke
Professor Leke is also the Chair of the African Regional Certification Commission for the Eradication of Poliomyelitis
Professor Mahmudur Rahman
Professor Rahman is also a member of the South East Asian Regional Certification Commission for the Eradication of Poliomyelitis
Dr Anton M. van Loon
Dr van Loon is also a member of the European Regional Certification Commission for the Eradication of Poliomyelitis
No other member and adviser have declared any interest.
The interests summarized above do not give rise to a conflict of interest such that the expert concerned should be partially or totally excluded from participation in the Emergency Committee. However, following WHO's policy, they are disclosed within the Committee so that other members were aware of them. All other Members of the Emergency Committee declared no relevant interests.
Many of the Emergency Committee Members have extensive governmental experience and expertise – and consulting with WHO – in the areas that are the subject of the Emergency Committee proceedings, which were considered very relevant and important for the challenging tasks faced by the Committee.
Dr Olga E. Ivanova Member of the Emergency Committee from its thirteenth meeting.
Dr Sayed Ataullah Saeedzai Member of the Emergency Committee from its fifteenth meeting, replacing Dr Khowaja Mir Islam Saeed.
Prof Oyewale Tomori Member of the Emergency Committee from its fifteenth meeting, replacing Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo.
Mr John Rainford Adviser to the Emergency Committee from its eighth to twenty-second meetings.
Dr Khowaja Mir Islam Saeed Member of the Emergency Committee from first through fourteenth meetings.
Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo Member of the Emergency Committee from first through thirteenth meetings.
Dr Anton M. van Loon Member of the Emergency Committee from first through third meetings.
Prof Annelies Wilder-Smith Member of the Emergency Committee from first through fourteenth meetings.
Dr Anthony Evans Adviser to the Emergency Committee from first through eleventh meetings.
Dr Peter A. Singer Adviser to the Emergency Committee from first through sixth meetings.
Dr Marsha Lynne Vanderford Adviser to the
Emergency Committee from first through seventh meetings.
Dr Aseed Hafeez Member of the Emergency Committee from first through sixteenth meetings.
Dr Jane Zuckerman Member of the Emergency Committee from
seventeenth to twenty first meetings, replacing Professor Annelies Wilder-Smith.
Dr Muhammad Salman Member of the Emergency Committee from its seventeenth meeting, replacing Dr Assad Hafeez.
Dr Vanessa Field Member of the Emergency Committee from its twenty second meeting, replacing Dr Jane Zuckerman.