On the WHOs proposed amendments to its International Health Regulations

Authoritarian supra-governmental lobbyism

This week, the WHO has drafted a new set of amendments to its International Health Regulations, an instrument of international law which is legally binding in most of the world since 2005.

The WHO headquarters in Geneva

The IHR are an instrument of international law that is legally-binding on 196 countries, including the 194 WHO Member States. The IHR  grew out of the response to  deadly epidemics that once overran Europe. They create rights and obligations for countries, including the requirement to report public health events. The Regulations also  outline the criteria to determine whether or not a particular event constitutes a  “public health emergency of international concern”. 

(who.int, “International Health Regulations”).

One of the most distinctive changes is the organization’s mission creep from an advisory organ towards a supra-governmental entity whose dictats will carry legal force.

The new article 13A is especially relevant in this regard:

NEW Article 13A WHO Led International Public Health Response

1. States Parties recognize WHO as the guidance and coordinating authority of international public health response during public health Emergency of International Concern and undertake to follow WHO’s recommendations in their international public health response (art. 13A).

The following are bullet points summarized from the organization’s proposed set of amendments:

• The WHO will expand the scope of these regulations from being restricted to “public health risks” to any and “all risks with a potential to impact public health”.

• The implementation of the regulations will no longer be restrained with regard to “full respect for the dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons”, which is substituted by a much more vague and conditional safeguard.

• The overall focus of the organization is more clearly towards the centralized production and marketing of “health products”. Education and self-governance? Good luck.

• According to 13A, the WHO can mandate member states to mass produce pharmaceuticals with the purpose of responding to “public health emergencies

  of international concern”. Maybe I should have bought Pfizer stock after all.

• The WHO is authorized to erect a global system of digital medical documents, including test- and vaccine certificates for travel, and even general health declarations for travellers. Stated in quite a lot of the articles involved. “The development of an interoperability mechanism for secure global digital exchange of health information” is also mentioned.

• The WHO is authorized to mandate medical examinations, confirmations of vaccination status, and contact tracing.

• The amendments mandate a financial mechanism for routing unspecified billions of dollars to big pharma without any specified services in return:

… in the facilitation of accessibility and affordability of health products, including sharing of technologies and know-how, establishment and maintenance of the local production and distribution facilities.

… in providing equitable access to health products such as diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines, personal protective equipment and other tools required for responding to public health emergencies of international concern to frontline workers, vulnerable populations and general public of all countries in order, as well as in prioritizing access to such health products for health workers of all countries in rolling out distribution plans and production capacity.

• The WHO is also authorized to receive and handle personal health data.

• The WHO is to strengthen the capacity to suppress what they consider to be disinformation and misinformation

+++

There’s much, much more in this set of suggested amendments, so I highly recommend that interested parties take a closer look. Authoritarian synergies between several of the points listed above are especially disturbing.