WHO warns that the global pandemic pact is in danger of disintegrating.
WHO warns that the global pandemic pact is in danger of disintegrating.
The agreement, which aims to stop another health disaster, is gaining less traction as a result of "lies and conspiracy theories."
AFP in Geneva on January 22, 2024, at 20.02 UTC
Infighting and misinformation could cause plans for a worldwide pandemic preparedness agreement to collapse, the head of the World Health Organisation said, adding that future generations "may not forgive us."
Startled by the Covid-19 outbreak, the 194 member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) made the decision to begin negotiations for an international agreement over two years ago with the goal of ensuring that nations are better prepared to handle the next health crisis or avoid it entirely.
The deal was supposed to be finalised at the World Health Assembly in 2024, which is the WHO's governing body and meets on May 27.
The WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, claimed that established viewpoints and "a torrent of fake news, lies, and conspiracy theories" had halted the momentum.
He cautioned that the project ran the risk of failing if no one was willing to take the lead or concede.
Tedros stated, "Time is very short," before the WHO executive board on Monday in Geneva. Additionally, there are still a number of unresolved concerns.
He said that failing to reach a consensus would be "a missed opportunity for which future generations may not forgive us."
Tedros stated that quick access to testing, treatments, and vaccines, as well as the ability to identify and exchange infections that pose a concern, were essential for all nations.
In order to "help protect our children and grandchildren from future pandemics," he demanded a "strong agreement."
Tedros called it "completely false" that the agreement will grant the WHO sovereignty or the authority to enforce lockdowns and vaccination requirements.
"This historic agreement, this turning point in global health, cannot be undermined."
The goal of the new international instrument on pandemic prevention, readiness, and response that the WHO member states voted to establish in December 2021 was to make sure that the shortcomings that caused Covid-19 to become a global disaster would never recur.
Michael Ryan, the head of WHO emergencies, recalled how the epidemic "ripped apart our social, economic, and political systems and became a multi-trillion dollar problem" and warned nations of this.
The speaker asserted that despite significant geopolitical disputes, there is one thing that everyone can agree on.
The project has shortened a seven-year procedure into two years, according to co-chair Roland Driece.
According to him, the agreement had to be audacious, inventive, and resolute.
Regarding the differences, he noted that while African nations desired proper access to pandemic "countermeasures" like vaccines and treatments, European nations sought greater financial support for pandemic prevention.
He indicated that two two-week sessions remained to complete a "extreme" amount of work.
Concurrent discussions are underway to update the International Health Regulations (IHR), which numerous nations believe have been shown to be woefully inadequate.
Tedros, in accordance with this, on January 30, 2020, deemed Covid-19 a public health emergency of international concern, the highest alert level permitted by the regulations.
boy in front of a COVID-19 mural
However, the world did not react until March 2020, when he referred to the deteriorating situation as a pandemic—a term not found in the IHR lexicon—at which point the virus had already spread widely.
In May 2023, Tedros announced the end of the global emergency.
Co-chairing the IHR negotiations is Ashley Bloomfield, who led New Zealand's health minister throughout the pandemic.
Similar to Tedros, he denounced an effort to weaken the process through a "coordinated and sophisticated campaign" of misinformation and disinformation.
During the negotiations, he noted, 300 proposed adjustments needed to be worked through.
Source theguardian.com
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