The Philippines on Friday joined other World Health Organization (WHO) Member States in enforcing the 2024 amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005), which took effect globally on September 19, 2025.
The reforms, adopted by consensus at the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) in June 2024, enter into force 12 months after WHO’s formal notification on September 19, 2024, pursuant to Article 59 of the IHR.
Four States Parties that follow a special schedule shift to the new rules on September 19, 2026; the Philippines is not among them.
According to WHO, the amendments hard-wire faster alerts, 24/7 communications through national focal points, and clearer pathways to equitable access to medical countermeasures while preserving national sovereignty.
The overhaul lands four months after Member States, including the Philippines, adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement in Geneva on May 20, 2025, a separate treaty now moving toward an annex on Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) before it can open for signature and ratification.
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What Changed — and What It Means for the Philippines
The IHR amendments now in force sharpen global obligations for detecting, verifying, and reporting serious health threats.
According to WHO’s IHR Q&A, the package was adopted without a vote at WHA77 and takes effect on September 19, 2025, for all States Parties that did not reject or reserve, and on September 19, 2026, for four States Parties under a distinct timeline.
The changes reinforce 24/7 National IHR Focal Point (NFP) connectivity, strengthen early-warning requirements, and introduce a new “pandemic emergency” alert level, while making explicit that WHO cannot impose lockdowns or domestic restrictions in any country.
For Manila, this translates into always keeping its IHR coordination machinery reachable, tightening event-based surveillance, and ensuring rapid inter-agency signal sharing—particularly across health, animal health, and points of entry.
WHO’s National IHR Focal Point guide stresses round-the-clock contactability and cross-sector links, while WHO’s Strategic Partnership for Health Security country page tracks the Philippines’ ongoing IHR coordination functions within the Department of Health.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Quarantine remains the designated health authority at ports and airports under the Quarantine Act, anchoring obligations at points of entry.
According to the WHO State Party Self-Assessment Annual Reporting (SPAR) portal, global readiness remains uneven: the worldwide average capacity score sits around 64% as of 2023, underscoring why implementation, not just legal change, matters.
In the Western Pacific, a 2025 analysis in the Western Pacific Surveillance and Response Journal reports the Philippines at 60% (2021), rising to 67% (2022), then dipping to 64% (2023), with notable gaps in zoonotic events and food safety, precisely the areas the IHR regime expects countries to strengthen.
READ: Philippines Tightens Surveillance as WHO Ends Mpox Emergency
The 2025 WHO Pandemic Agreement (Treaty Stage)
On May 20, 2025, the 78th World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement, only the second treaty negotiated under Article 19 of the WHO Constitution, after the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
According to WHO’s adoption note and resolution WHA78.1, the treaty sets principles and tools for equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics; builds supply-chain resilience; expands manufacturing; and lays out next steps to draft the PABS annex, which the Intergovernmental Working Group will submit to WHA79 in 2026.
The agreement will open for signature only after that annex is adopted; it then enters into force 30 days after the 60th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval, formal confirmation, or accession is deposited.
WHO repeatedly underscores that the accord respects national sovereignty and does not give the Secretariat authority to mandate domestic measures such as lockdowns or vaccine mandates. The Director-General reiterated this on May 20, 2025, while WHO’s treaty Q&A quotes the operative text that “nothing” in the agreement empowers WHO to impose such requirements.
For context, the same SPAR dataset referenced above shows an average global capacity of ~64% across 196 States Parties, pointing to persistent gaps that the treaty aims to address through equity-focused provisions and practical mechanisms like technology transfer and regulatory reliance
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What This Means in Practical Terms for the Philippines
- Treaty mechanics. As an Article 19 instrument, the Pandemic Agreement, once opened—will require Philippine Senate concurrence by a two-thirds vote after Executive signature. This is mandated by Article VII, Section 21 of the 1987 Constitution and consistently recognized in jurisprudence.
- IHR obligations continue. By contrast, the IHR amendments already bind the Philippines as a State Party and are operative from September 19, 2025 (with the four-party 2026 exception noted above). WHO confirms the September 19, 2024 notification date that triggers the one-year clock.
- NFP and coordination. WHO’s guidance requires every State Party to maintain an NFP reachable at all times for two-way communication with WHO and domestic coordination. WHO’s country capacity pages for the Philippines reflect active monitoring of these functions, while the Bureau of Quarantine carries legal authority at points of entry.
- Systems upgrades the IHR expects. According to WHO, the amendments double down on faster notification, 24/7 NFP connectivity, and clearer escalation paths, including a top-tier “pandemic emergency” signal, so front-liners can elevate unusual clusters rapidly and governments can notify WHO when criteria are met.
- Equity through regulation. To accelerate access to quality-assured countermeasures during emergencies, WHO promotes regulatory reliance tools such as the Collaborative Registration Procedure (CRP) and Facilitated Registration Pathways (FRPs), enabling agencies to leverage trusted assessments and speed approvals without ceding sovereignty.
- Readiness baseline. The Philippines’ SPAR trajectory, 60% (2021), 67% (2022), 64% (2023), suggests progress with backsliding in specific capacities like zoonoses and food safety, a reminder that legal reforms must translate into drills, budgets, and data pipelines.
The Equity Questions; The Pandemic Agreement Tries to Answer
The treaty is expressly framed to avoid the “queue” seen during COVID-19, where low, and middle-income countries waited behind wealthier nations for essential tools.
WHO’s adoption note shows that it anchors equitable and timely access, technology transfer, supply-chain strengthening, and manufacturing diversification, with the PABS annex intended to tie rapid pathogen and genetic sequence data sharing to fair benefit-sharing, such as assured doses or financing.
Independent analyses emphasize that the agreement’s promise will hinge on PABS and on the practical choices governments make before and after entry into force.
For ASEAN, a Think Global Health analysis argues the region can start operationalizing pieces now, coordinated procurement, technology transfer, and manufacturing, if backed by financing and political will.
Moreover, regional leaders have begun to move. Based on a May 28, 2025, Bernama readout, ASEAN members pledged to align regulatory pathways and collaborate on procurement and supply, especially during public-health emergencies, and to study pooled procurement to boost bargaining power and cut costs.
Where the Philippines Stands—and What to Watch
- Diplomacy. The Department of Foreign Affairs welcomed the Pandemic Agreement’s adoption from Geneva, noting the Philippines’ support and the multilateral process that produced it. WHO records show the Assembly was presided over by Health Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa, elected President of the 78th WHA, giving Manila unusual visibility as adoption was gaveled through.
- Domestic law & budgets. If the Executive signs the Pandemic Agreement after the annex is adopted, Senate concurrence by a two-thirds vote will be required, and committees are expected to scrutinize costs (labs, stockpiles, workforce) and governance (who serves as NFP/National IHR Authority; how to coordinate with agriculture, environment, transport, and local governments).
- Surveillance & One Health. Cross-sector surveillance is an existing IHR requirement. A 2025 WPSAR analysis flags Philippine weaknesses in zoonotic events and food safety, while WHO technical reports document Western Pacific gains in genomic sequencing capacity since COVID-19, capabilities the amended IHR expect countries to integrate into faster risk assessment and notification.
- Regional manufacturing & access. ASEAN signals on pooled procurement and regulatory alignment in 2025 complement the treaty’s equity aims. According to Bernama and policy analyses, implementation pathways, procurement playbooks, stockpile governance, and technology transfer, are already being discussed.
A Reporter’s Guide to the Big Moving Parts
- IHR entry into force. The updated IHR take effect September 19, 2025, for States Parties without reservations, and September 19, 2026, for four States Parties on a different timeline. WHO also clarifies the new top-tier “pandemic emergency” alert level. Watch day-to-day issues like focal-point availability, data flows, and points-of-entry operations.
- Pandemic Agreement annexes. The PABS annex is being drafted now, with a target of WHA79 (2026). The treaty will open for signature once the annex is adopted; entry into force follows 60 ratifications or equivalent instruments. This annex process is the next major Geneva deliverable.
- Domestic ratification. If the Executive signs, the Senate must concur by a two-thirds vote for validity and effect domestically. Expect budget and governance questions during hearings.
- Misinformation watch. Claims that WHO can force measures in the Philippines are false. WHO’s own Q&A and statements say the IHR, and the Pandemic Agreement do not empower the Secretariat to impose lockdowns, vaccine mandates, or other domestic actions; those remain sovereign decisions.
The Near-Term To-Do list (Sept–Dec 2025)
- Update and socialize IHR playbooks for local epidemiology units, ports, and LGU rapid response teams, reflecting new timelines and reporting expectations. WHO’s recent briefings highlight the “pandemic emergency” level and the need for clear escalation.
- Stress-test the NFP with multi-agency exercises (BOQ, RITM, transport and local government partners) to validate 24/7 contactability and escalation paths, core to effective IHR communications.
- Map supply chains for PPE, diagnostics, cold chain, and oxygen, and scan for ASEAN pooled procurement opportunities as regional regulatory alignment and procurement collaboration advance.
- Engage the Senate early with briefings on the costs and benefits of ratifying the Pandemic Agreement—particularly equity provisions, tech-transfer pathways, and regional manufacturing options—consistent with constitutional concurrence rules.
- Integrate One Health more tightly by formalizing standing data-sharing across DOH, agriculture, and environment agencies and extending event-based reporting with genomic surveillance where feasible, aligning with Western Pacific technical guidance.
Why These Matter
COVID-19 exposed two failures at once: slow, fragmented information flows and stark inequities in access to life-saving tools. The IHR amendments target the first; the Pandemic Agreement targets the second.
According to WHO, today’s legal switch clarifies alerts, roles, and expectations; the treaty, meanwhile, moves equity from rhetoric toward rules via PABS, supply-chain resilience, and manufacturing scale-up. The real test, however, is operational: drills, budgets, procurement, and regulatory agility, in Manila and across ASEAN.
For Filipinos, the measure of success is simple and human. When an unusual pneumonia cluster appears, the barangay can flag it fast; the focal point verifies and notifies without friction; and when a vaccine is ready, access is not a hope but a plan.
With the IHR amendments now live and the Pandemic Agreement adopted, with the Philippines an active voice at Geneva, the country has both the legal scaffolding and political momentum to build something sturdier than the ad hoc fixes of the last pandemic. The window to prove it has opened.
Photo by Angels for Humanity on Unsplash
