International Health Regulations (2005) for seafarers

1 What it covers

The International Health Regulations are the World Health Organization treaty on preventing the international spread of disease. For seafarers the relevant rules cover vaccination certificates: the form of the international certificate and the requirements for vaccination against yellow fever.²

A certificate of vaccination against yellow fever is valid for life, including certificates issued earlier; validity for travel starts 10 days after vaccination.³

2 Documents in the reference

• IHRVaccinationInternational Certificate of Vaccination against Yellow Fever

3 Where to read the text

WHO publishes the official text of the Regulations and their amendments on its website. This page is our own explanation.

• International Health Regulations (2005), amended text (WHO, PDF)
• Lifetime validity of the yellow fever vaccination certificate (WHO, PDF)