Last week the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Health Regulations(IHR) went into effect. In an earlier post I talked about how these regulations are designed to give the WHO broader authority in helping countries deal to “prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease.” While all of these efforts still depend on the cooperation of the governments involved, the new regulations will still enhance global health security according to David Fidler, an expert on international law and public health at the Indiana University School of Law.

In addition to giving the WHO the right to use nongovernmental sources — such as media reports, postings on the Internet, or text messages — to confront a national government and start probing an outbreak, the WHO Director-General also has the right to declare an international public health emergency over the objections of a government if necessary. “That’s an amazing power that you rarely see given to international organizations,” Fidler says.

Two recent editorials in the published by the Public Library of Science (PLoS) discuss the new initiatives by the WHO to overcome its previous reputation for being a “dysfunctional” and “fossilized” bureaucracy. One editorial cautions that while the IHR, which took ten years to finalize, is a great step forward and gives the WHO needed “teeth” — on paper at least — new funding has to be mobilized or a new global surveillance and response system will remain “just an aspiration.”

The second PLoS editorial looks at the development of the WHO Rapid Advice Guidelines in response to “requests from member states confronted with uncertainty about the pharmacological management of avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection.” They described the pilot testing of a systematic, transparent approach that showed it was feasible to develop evidence-based guidelines in as little as two months. And they are working on recommendations to improve the timeliness of the process even further. For those with an appreciation of the WHO’s history, this is remarkable indeed.

These new efforts by the WHO, and the positive support they are finding in the health care community, are a welcomed and necessary change to business-as-usual. In a time when world conditions require extraordinary cooperation and coordination, these programs provide a critical platform for responsive and thoughtful global action.