U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters on Wednesday he was optimistic that World Health Organization member states would agree on a framework for responding to future pandemics, despite the collapse of talks this week on a proposed “pandemic treaty.”
Becerra is in Geneva, Switzerland, for the WHO’s annual World Health Assembly (WHA). Ahead of the assembly’s opening this week, a working group working on drafting a pandemics treaty (officially called the “WHO Convention, Agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response,” or “WHO CA+” (because the contracting parties cannot agree on what kind of international legal instrument that should be)) failed to reach agreement on such a draft to submit to the UN body. Supporters of a binding international agreement on pandemics lamented the setback, but WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that “this is not a failure.”
Becerra, representing President Joe Biden’s administration, told reporters at the World Health Assembly that the breadth of such an agreement makes diplomatic efforts difficult and that it is not unusual for such an ambitious document to require years of negotiations.
“We think the elements of a good deal are already on the table, and that’s why we’re optimistic, because these are pretty good deals,” Becerra said. Said The agreement was passed on Wednesday, according to Voice of America, “and now it’s just a matter of fine-tuning it to make sure we can say that everyone is ready to sign it.”
Becerra urged observers to put into “proper perspective” the magnitude of the “major international achievement” the pandemic treaty represents, saying “negotiations take forever… You can’t build a nation overnight.”
“There is a clear agreement that if a new pandemic occurs, we cannot allow the status quo to continue,” he reportedly added.
The embattled WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, received warm applause from China’s Communist regime on Sunday. https://t.co/AZnUh28IYl
—Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 24, 2020
A major point of contention is how to change the status quo. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus began promoting the idea of a formal international agreement on how to respond to pandemics shortly after the coronavirus pandemic began in Wuhan, arguing that no such template existed and that future pandemics were inevitable. Proponents of a pandemic agreement argue that the WHO’s disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic was due in part to the organization’s lack of authority to independently warn of a public health emergency without the approval of the countries in question (in this case China), and to insufficient funding and resources to rapidly distribute vaccines and other medical supplies.
Critics warn that expanding WHO’s powers could jeopardize the sovereignty of member states, giving the WHO powers that belong to national public health agencies. Critics warn that such a document should not allow the WHO to declare a public health emergency without the approval of a country’s government. Other concerns include demands for “fairness” from smaller participating countries (essentially a demand that wealthier countries contribute money to an international pandemic fund for poorer countries) and proposed provisions that could require countries to share intellectual property to expand access to new technologies for treatments and vaccines related to diseases that could cause future pandemics.
Tedros responded sharply to these concerns, claiming they were the result of “misinformation” and “conspiracy theories.”
“The WHO is not even a party to the agreement; the only parties are governments,” Tedros argued in February. “Far from ceding sovereignty, the agreement actually affirms national sovereignty and national responsibility in its fundamental principles. In fact, the agreement itself is an exercise of sovereignty.”
A working group will discuss these topics in early May. Conclusion No solution was found, and the group agreed to continue discussions after the agreed negotiating session, but ultimately failed to produce a draft WHO CA+ for presentation to the WHA.
Preliminary investigations conducted by Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the new virus. #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was identified #Wuhan, #China🇳. pic.twitter.com/Fnl5P877VG
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 14, 2020
“We are not where we hoped we would be when we began this process,” lamented Roland Dries, co-chair of the WHO’s negotiating committee.
Separate from the pandemic treaty negotiations, the WHA is also considering amendments to an existing international legal instrument, the International Health Regulations (IHR). Among the amendments under consideration are reportedly an “equity” clause to redistribute financial responsibility and the creation of a formal legal definition of what a “pandemic” is. Other amendments aimed at improving pandemic response: include The creation of a tiered alert system to provide countries with clearer information on the nature of public health emergencies.
Currently, the WHO only has the power to declare a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” (PHEIC), without specifying its severity.
At the time of writing, WHO member states have not yet agreed on any specific changes for this year.
Busy Becerra called on his colleagues at the WHA on Tuesday to amend the IHR.
“We should not wait until the worst happens. We should use the time we have here, two years from now, to take the meaningful steps we need to take,” Becerra said. “Let’s document the great progress made over the past two years and finalize the IHR amendments this week.”
Globalist Elite WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “Access to safe abortion saves lives.” https://t.co/l0gfNx0egf
—Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 6, 2022
“These amendments, particularly the tiered alert system, will have an immediate effect on improving global preparedness,” Becerra argued. “Finalizing the IHR will build confidence in our ability to work together and lay the groundwork for a more constructive future in responding to pandemics, demonstrating that the world is prepared to respond in extraordinary ways to extraordinary events that threaten global health.”
In remarks to reporters reported by Voice of America, Becerra said he believes “people are generally in agreement about what we need to do to be prepared to respond to any pandemic.”
“I’m the son of immigrants. Optimism is in my DNA. So I believe we can get this done, because it would be a tragedy if we’ve come this far and not made it. It would be a tragedy, especially if we’ve come this far and not made it,” he said.
