Ships Go Digital: WHO Says Paper Health Records Must Stay Within Reach at Every Port

The call follows the 2024 amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005), which entered into force for most States Parties on 19 September 2025.

The World Health Organization is urging countries to keep ship health documents available in non-digital formats as maritime authorities expand their use of electronic systems. Its advice covers the Ship Declaration of Health (SDH) and Ship Sanitation Certificates (SSC), which should remain accessible for inspection at every port of call. Keeping both formats available would help authorities review essential documentation despite differences in countries' digital capabilities.

The call follows the 2024 amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005), which entered into force for most States Parties on 19 September 2025. Article 35 allows health documents to be issued in digital or non-digital form, provided their authenticity can be established. Acceptance of digital documents therefore depends on authorities being able to confirm that they are genuine.

Many countries lack the technical capacity, systems or arrangements needed to issue digital ship health documents and verify those received from elsewhere. Differences between national systems can make electronic records difficult to authenticate, creating practical problems for ships visiting several countries. WHO's advice seeks to keep documentation accessible across those different settings and prevent avoidable disruption to international maritime traffic.

Digital rules allow both document formats

The amended health regulations sit alongside maritime requirements that have supported electronic information exchange since 1 January 2024. Under the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic, public authorities must establish, maintain and use Maritime Single Window systems for information required during a ship's arrival, stay and departure. These platforms provide a shared digital channel for submitting information associated with port calls.

The obligation to use electronic submission systems does not remove WHO's recommendation to keep ship health documents accessible in non-digital form. Authorities reviewing a vessel's records may lack the tools needed to establish the validity and authenticity of an electronic certificate or declaration. Maintaining access to both formats helps accommodate those limitations as countries develop their digital systems.

Shipmasters and issuing authorities should keep records accessible

Competent authorities responsible for issuing Ship Sanitation Certificates should ensure that the documents remain available in non-digital form alongside any digital version. Shipmasters responsible for completing and submitting Ship Declarations of Health should make the same arrangements for those declarations. Both types of document should always be accessible to the relevant authorities at any port of call for review.

This approach gives ports a practical way to examine health documentation when electronic verification is unavailable, or systems cannot work together. Keeping non-digital records accessible can help prevent gaps in digital capacity from becoming barriers to maritime operations. WHO links that continued access to avoiding unnecessary interference with international traffic and preventing a wider digital divide between countries.

Cooperation can support a smoother transition

WHO is encouraging national border health authorities, port authorities and other bodies responsible for ship documentation to support the continued availability of both formats. Its message extends to ship owners and ship agents, whose cooperation can help ensure that documents are accessible throughout a vessel's journey. The recommendation brings together the authorities reviewing records and the operators responsible for making them available.

A transition that accommodates different levels of digital readiness can help countries modernise their procedures without interrupting maritime operations. Access to non-digital documentation gives authorities a usable option as electronic systems and verification arrangements develop. WHO says this approach can support continuity in shipping and preserve mutual trust among States Parties.