The adoption of international travel measures during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a descriptive analysis.

Objective: To describe the adoption of international travel measures during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: To comprehensively analyze the measures adopted, we constructed a dataset based on the WHO's Public Health and Social Measures (PHSM) database, which covered 252 countries, territories, or other areas (CTAs), including all 194 WHO Member States, from December 31, 2019, to December 31, 2020. We examined the adoption of measures by type, over time, and by the implementing and targeted CTA, including their levels of income.

Understanding the secondary outcomes of international travel measures during the covid-19 pandemic: a scoping review of social impact evidence.

Background: Assessment of the effective use of international travel measures during the COVID-19 pandemic has focused on public health goals, namely limiting virus introduction and onward transmission. However, risk-based approaches includes the weighing of public health goals against potential social, economic and other secondary impacts. Advancing risk-based approaches thus requires fuller understanding of available evidence on such impacts.

The economic impact of international travel measures used during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.

Introduction: Assessment of the use of travel measures during COVID-19 has focused on their effectiveness in achieving public health objectives. However, the prolonged use of highly varied and frequently changing measures by governments, and their unintended consequences caused, has been controversial. This has led to a call for coordinated decision-making focused on risk-based approaches, which requires better understanding of the broader impacts of international travel measures (ITMs) on individuals and societies.

An analysis of WHO's Temporary Recommendations on international travel and trade measures during Public Health Emergencies of International Concern.

During Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEICs), The International Health Regulations (IHR) require the WHO to issue Temporary Recommendations on the use of international travel and trade measures. During the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO's initial recommendation against 'any travel or trade restriction' has been questioned, and virtually all countries subsequently used international travel measures. WHO's Recommendations to States Parties also changed over the course of the pandemic.

The Unintended Consequences of Information Provision: The World Health Organization and Border Restrictions during COVID-19.

Why do some international agreements fail to achieve their goals? Rather than states' engaging in cheap talk, evasion, or shallow commitments, the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR)-the agreement governing states' and WHO's response to global health emergencies-point to the unintended consequences of information provision. The IHR have a dual goal of providing public health protection from health threats while minimizing unnecessary interference in international traffic. As such, during major outbreaks WHO provides information about spread and severity, as well as guidance about how states should respond, primarily regarding border policies.

Evidence of the effectiveness of travel-related measures during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid systematic review.

Objective: To review the effectiveness of travel measures implemented during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic to inform changes on how evidence is incorporated in the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR).

Design: We used an abbreviated Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols to identify studies that investigated the effectiveness of travel-related measures preprinted or published by 1 June 2020.

Results: We identified 29 studies, of which 26 were modelled.

Concealing Disease: Trade and Travel Barriers and the Timeliness of Outbreak Reporting.

Slow outbreak reporting by states is a key challenge to effectively responding to global health emergencies like Zika, Ebola, and H1N1. Current policy focuses on improving domestic outbreak surveillance capacity globally in order to reduce reporting lags. However, governments also face economic and political incentives to conceal outbreaks, and these incentives largely are ignored in policy discussions.

The Disease Outbreak-Human Trafficking Connection: A Missed Opportunity.

This article examines the connection between disease outbreaks and human trafficking. A central challenge in combating trafficking is poor data on its nature and scope. One way to deal with these gaps in knowledge and still target resources effectively is to identify key "push and pull" factors that increase the likelihood of trafficking from origin countries and to destination countries.

Domestic politics and the WHO's International Health Regulations: Explaining the use of trade and travel barriers during disease outbreaks.

During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO), acting under the authority of the International Health Regulations (IHR), recommended against the imposition of trade or travel restrictions because, according to WHO, these barriers would not prevent disease spread. Why did 47 states impose barriers anyway? This article argues that states use barriers as political cover to prevent a loss of domestic political support. This logic suggests that governments anticipating high domestic political benefits for imposing barriers during an outbreak will be likely to do so.