Related ICAO Resolutions

ICAO holds an Assembly, usually every three years that bring together representatives of each of its member States. At such Assemblies decisions are made concerning the direction of ICAO during the triennium about to commence and some of these decisions take the form of Resolutions. Several Resolutions are medically related, and are listed below, together with the year they were adopted.

A29-15 | A33-12 | A35-12 | A37-13 | A37-14

1992

A29-15: Smoking restrictions on international passenger flights

Whereas ICAO Assemblies have demonstrated a concern for and a contribution to human welfare in the quality of life and in the environment in which human beings work and engage in other pursuits, including matters related to engine emissions, the ozone layer and aircraft noise;

Whereas ICAO Assemblies have recognized a responsibility to achieve maximum compatibility between civil aviation operation and the quality of the human environment;

Whereas States have been recognizing increasingly and taking action against the known health hazards caused by tobacco smoke at the work place, in public buildings and transportation systems;

Whereas the build-up of "tar" and other residue from tobacco smoke on aircraft may adversely affect oxygen masks and contaminate environmental control systems;

Whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), consider that occupational safety and health are interrelated and cannot be separated; and

Whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) unanimously adopted a Resolution urging Member States to ban smoking in public conveyances where protection against involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke cannot be ensured and requested its Director General to collaborate with ICAO;

The Assembly:

Requests the ICAO Council to intensify its studies into the safety aspects of banning smoking on board aircraft;

Requests the ICAO Council, with the assistance and co-operation of the World Health Organization, to take appropriate measures to promote a smoke-free travel environment on all international flights;

Urges all Contracting States, in the meantime, to take necessary measures as soon as possible to restrict smoking progressively on all international passenger flights with the objective of implementing complete smoking bans by 1 July 1996;

Requests the ICAO Council to report on the implementation of this Resolution in all its aspects to the next ordinary Session of the Assembly.

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2001

A33-12: Harmonization of drug and alcohol testing programmes

Whereas ICAO has for over 50 years effectively and efficiently fulfilled its functions in accordance with the Convention on International Civil Aviation;

Whereas the fundamental objectives of the Organization expressed in Article 44 of the Chicago Convention and the functions of the Council expressed in Articles 54 and 55 remain paramount;

Whereas appreciation is expressed to the Council and the Secretary General for the progress made regarding the elimination of substance abuse by personnel in safety related occupations in aviation;

Whereas there is still a need to achieve a consistent policy on the implementation by national authorities of regulations regarding the prevention and enforcement on the abuse of alcohol and drugs by personnel in safety related occupations in aviation;

Whereas the Organization is facing new and rapidly evolving challenges of a technological, economic, social and legal nature;

Whereas the response to these challenges affects the safety of international civil aviation; and

Whereas there is a need for ICAO to meet these challenges effectively;

The Assembly:

Directs the Council to review existing guidance for improvements aimed at helping States to develop consistent prevention and testing programmes.

Directs the Council to study the issues and to develop the necessary ICAO provisions to achieve consistency among the substance testing programmes of Contracting States and enforcement by Contracting States on the abuse of alcohol and drugs by certain safety-sensitive personnel.

Encourages Contracting States to foster consistency with respect to their prevention and testing programmes.

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2004

A35-12: Protection of the health of passengers and crews and prevention of the spread of communicable disease through international travel

Whereas Article 44 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation states that "The aims and objectives of the Organization are to develop the principles and techniques of international air navigation and to foster the planning and development of international air transport so as to: ... meet the needs of the peoples of the world for safe, regular, efficient and economical air transport";

Whereas Article 14 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation states that "Each contracting State agrees to take effective measures to prevent the spread by means of air navigation of cholera, typhus (epidemic), smallpox, yellow fever, plague, and such other communicable diseases as the contracting States shall from time to time decide to designate, and to that end contracting States will keep in close consultation with the agencies concerned with international regulations relating to sanitary measures applicable to aircraft";

Whereas the worldwide transmission of communicable diseases by means of air transport, and the threat thereof, have increased in past years;

Whereas Assembly Resolution A29-15 urges all contracting States to take necessary measures to restrict smoking progressively on all international passenger flights with the objective of implementing complete smoking bans by 1 July 1996;

Whereas the increasing number of elderly and handicapped persons travelling by air and the increasing duration of international flights may pose additional risks to the health of passengers and may give rise to more frequent medical emergencies on board;

Whereas ICAO forecasts a five per cent annual increase in the number of passengers in the foreseeable future, thus potentially increasing the occurrence of medical emergencies during air travel;

Whereas the communication technologies have made possible in-flight diagnosis and treatment of passengers by doctors based at ground facilities;

Whereas health issues are becoming a consideration for some in their decision to fly or not, with a potential for highly detrimental impact on the economy of airlines and airports;

Whereas there is a need to coordinate for global application the considerable activity and progress on health issues by ICAO, some contracting States, the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Tourism Organization (WTO-OMT) and international organizations such as the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA), International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine (IAASM), International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airports Council International (ACI) and other interested organizations;

The Assembly:

Declares that the protection of the health of passengers and crews on international flights is an integral element of safe air travel and that conditions should be in place to ensure its preservation in a timely and cost-effective manner;

Requests the Council to review existing SARPs related to passenger and crew health and develop new SARPs where appropriate with due consideration of global health issues and recent developments in air transport operations;

Requests the Council to establish suitable institutional arrangements to coordinate efforts by contracting States and other members of the international civil aviation community aimed at protecting the health of passengers and crews;

Requests the Council as a matter of priority to develop Standards and Recommended Practices in the appropriate Annexes to the Convention in order to address contingency plans to prevent the spread of communicable diseases by air transport;

Urges all contracting States, in the meantime, to ensure the implementation of existing SARPs related to the health of passengers and crews;

Requests the Council to support further research on the consequences of air transport on the health of passengers and crews;

Requests the Council to report on the implementation of this resolution in all aspects to the next ordinary Session of the Assembly.

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2010

A37-13: Prevention of spread of communicable disease through air travel

Whereas Article 14 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation states that ‘Each contracting State agrees to take effective measures to prevent the spread by means of air navigation of cholera, typhus (epidemic), smallpox, yellow fever, plague, and such other communicable diseases as the contracting States shall from time to time decide to designate, and to that end contracting States will keep in close consultation with the agencies concerned with international regulations relating to sanitary measures applicable to aircraft’;

Whereas Article 14(1) of the World Health Organization International Health Regulations (2005) states that ‘WHO shall cooperate and coordinate its activities, as appropriate, with other competent intergovernmental organizations or international bodies in the implementation of these Regulations, including through the conclusion of agreements and other similar arrangements’;

Whereas ICAO Resolution A35-12 states that ‘the protection of the health of passengers and crews on international flights is an integral element of safe air travel and that conditions should be in place to ensure its preservation in a timely and cost-effective manner’;

Whereas Article 44 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation states that ‘The aims and objectives of the Organization are to develop the principles and techniques of international air navigation and to foster the planning and development of international air transport so as to ...[m]eet the needs of the peoples of the world for safe, regular, efficient and economical air transport’;

Whereas Annex 6 – Operation of Aircraft, Annex 9 – Facilitation, Annex 11 – Air Traffic Services, Annex 14 – Aerodromes, Volume I — Aerodrome Design and Operations to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and the Procedures for Air Navigation Service – Air Traffic Management (Doc 4444) contain several Standards and Recommended Practices and Procedures relating to health measures that should be taken by Contracting States to manage public health emergencies of international concern and to prevent the spread of communicable disease by air travel; and

Whereas the ICAO Cooperative Arrangement for the Prevention of Spread of Communicable Disease through Air Travel (CAPSCA) project is an appropriate measure to improve and harmonize preparedness plans:

The Assembly:

Urges Contracting States and regional safety oversight organizations to ensure that the public health sector and the aviation sector collaborate to develop a national preparedness plan for aviation which addresses public health emergencies of international concern and which is integrated with the general national preparedness plan;

Urges Contracting States to develop a national preparedness plan for aviation that is in compliance with the World Health Organization International Health Regulations (2005) and which are based on scientific principles and on the guidelines from ICAO and the World Health Organization;

Urges Contracting States, and regional safety oversight organizations as appropriate, to establish requirements for the involvement of stakeholders such as airport operators, aircraft operators and air navigation service providers in the development of a national preparedness plan for aviation; and

Urges Contracting States to join and participate in the Cooperative Arrangement for the Prevention of Spread of Communicable Disease through Air Travel (CAPSCA) project, where available, to ensure that its goals are achieved, unless equivalent measures are already in place.

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2010

A37-14: Non-chemical disinsection of the aircraft cabin and flight deck for international flights

Whereas ICAO Assemblies have demonstrated a concern for the quality of life and the environment in which human beings work and live, including matters related to engine emissions, the ozone layer, aircraft noise, smoking and invasive alien species;

Whereas the 35th session of the Assembly declared that ‘the protection of the health of passengers and crews on international flights is an integral element of safe air travel and that conditions should be in place to ensure its preservation in a timely and cost-effective manner’;

Whereas the 2005 revisions to the International Health Regulations, which strengthen public health security in travel and transportation and minimize public health risk, expanded the definition of disinsection to include the control as well as the killing of insect vectors;

Whereas concern has been expressed that the current practice by some States of requiring the use of insecticides to disinsect aircraft can result in discomfort and adverse health effects to aircraft crews and passengers, which may potentially result in a medical emergency;

Whereas there are conflicting reports concerning the efficacy of insecticides used for disinsection and the effectiveness of existing insecticide-based disinsection protocols;

Whereas recent outbreaks of vector borne diseases highlight the need to control the transportation of insect vectors by air; and

Whereas some recently conducted research has shown non-chemical methods of disinsection to be efficacious in preventing mosquitoes and other flying insects from entering an aircraft:

The Assembly:

Requests that the Council urge the World Health Organization to continue to explore methods of disinsection of the cabin and flight deck in which:
- information on advances of both chemical and non-chemical disinsection is reviewed;
- the efficacy and safety of non-chemical disinsection are compared with the efficacy and
- safety of pesticide based disinsection; and recommendations are made on acceptable disinsection

Requests the Council to encourage the exploration of non-chemical approaches to aircraft disinsection of the cabin and flight deck;

Encourages Contracting States to allow the evaluation of non-chemical aircraft disinsection technology on flights over their territories, without prejudice to existing disinsection requirements;

Encourages Contracting States, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, to develop and adopt performance based criteria for disinsection requirements;

Urges Contracting States to ensure that aircraft operators are made aware of requirements for aircraft disinsection. Information provided should include whether or not the State requires disinsection, for which routes, and which methods of disinsection are acceptable;

Requests the Council to report on the implementation of this Resolution at the next ordinary session of the Assembly; and

Declares that this Resolution supersedes Resolution A36-24.

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