At the 75th session of the World Health Assembly, the Biden administration proposed 13 amendments to the WHO’s International Health Regulations. These amendments give control over the declaration of a public health emergency in any member State to the WHO Director-General. Consequently, States are deprived of their fundamental obligations in relation to the ability to detect, assess, report and respond to public health emergencies.
The proposed amendments set up “Emergency Committees” that will impose, without the approval of States, health measures they must implement, in the case of declared public health emergency on their territory. States that don’t comply with the recommendations of the WHO Director-General may be sanctioned by a number of international bodies.
This approach is a clear affront to democratic accountability and to human rights. It gives decision-making power to unelected WHO technocrats to decide on the health measures that the authorities of the States concerned are bound by the Treaty to adopt and execute.
In our view, there is no freedom without sovereignty and without democratic responsibility of those elected to represent the interests of citizens. Technocrats have no direct responsibility for the interests of these citizens.
By opening the negotiations for an international agreement on pandemic prevention (Pandemic Treaty), the WHO intends to eliminate States and their parliaments from the decision-making process when addressing a health emergency. Subsequent legally binding policy decision is going to be made by non-elected and unaccountable technocrats.
Particular attention should be paid to this draft treaty because, if adopted by member States, it will become the WHO Constitution and will prevail over State competence.
The Parliamentary Assembly should examine this situation and provide a comprehensive response to this attempt by the WHO and other interested parties to displace State sovereignty.