{"id":10766,"date":"2024-05-05T18:00:11","date_gmt":"2024-05-05T15:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766"},"modified":"2024-05-05T18:00:11","modified_gmt":"2024-05-05T15:00:11","slug":"the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766","title":{"rendered":"The global pandemic treaty is coming"},"content":{"rendered":"
Countries aren\u2019t quite ready to cede all authority to the WHO just yet but in a few weeks most Western nations will sign<\/h4>\n
We\u2019ve already written twice about the WHO pandemic treaty, the first time back in June 2022. It\u2019s been a long time coming \u2013 but it\u2019s now almost here, so it seems appropriate to write again.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO)\u2019s website, \u201cmember states are scheduled to consider the proposed text of the world\u2019s first pandemic agreement for adoption\u201d at the 77th World Health Assembly, running from May 27 to June 1. \nThat said, there\u2019s been a last-minute twist to the saga. The latest draft of the proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations \u2013 which are one half of what\u2019s on the table, along with the treaty itself \u2013 has been diluted from previous versions. \nMost notably, the proposal to make the WHO\u2019s recommendations (in a pandemic or health emergency) binding on member states has been dropped. Article 1 of the Regulations continues to define them as \u201cnon-binding\u201d, like they\u2019ve always been. \nThis was always the main fear among those objecting to the agreement, that it would compel countries to follow orders in the name of \u2018pandemic preparedness\u2019 \u2013 though the WHO\u2019s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (known as \u2018Dr Tedros\u2019) has insisted that the accord won\u2019t compromise national sovereignty, going on X last November to rail against \u201cmisinformation\u201d. \n\u201cSome argue that this agreement will undermine a country\u2019s sovereignty\u2026 They claim that the WHO will be able to impose lockdowns or vaccine mandates on countries,\u201d he tweeted. \n\u201cHowever, it is important to make it clear that these claims are completely unfounded, untrue, nonsense and have no basis in reality. \n\u201cTo be clear, the accord does not grant the WHO any such authority.\u201d \nSounds reassuring \u2013 though you have to wonder why these recent changes were even made, if the accord was incapable of affecting sovereignty in the first place. \nOne mustn\u2019t be paranoid about these things. There are solid reasons why a global pandemic agreement could be useful. \nAn article in Politico last January (\u2018Why the world\u2019s first pandemic treaty may never happen\u2019) said the treaty \u201caims to prepare for the next global health emergency and prevent a repeat of what South Africa called \u2018vaccine apartheid\u2019, where countries had vastly unequal access to Covid vaccines and drugs\u201d. \nThe article also lamented that countries were dragging their feet, \u201craising a real possibility that talks will break down and leave the world as unprepared as it was in 2020\u201d. \nWas the world really unprepared in 2020, though? It\u2019s not like Covid was the first-ever pandemic. Most governments had contingency plans, which had been in place for years. They just chose not to follow them. \nIt\u2019s also far from clear that more centralisation is the answer. After all, one big reason why we still don\u2019t know if lockdowns made the situation better or worse is because everyone did the same thing. \nIt was just dumb luck that Sweden decided not to lock down, thereby providing a control group \u2013 not because of any rebellious streak, but because their laws place such matters entirely in the hands of the state epidemiologist. \nAfter an early spike, the country ended up with average Covid deaths (about the same as Spain, which locked down hard) and extremely low all-cause excess deaths \u2013 by some measures, the lowest in Europe \u2013 over the course of the pandemic, suggesting they were right to go against the consensus. \nWhat would happen next time? Even with non-binding recommendations, the WHO was already widely followed during Covid \u2013 and of course a pandemic treaty would only bolster its authority. \nArticle 13(5) of the amended Regulations states, for instance, that \u201cwhen requested by WHO, States Parties shall [changed from \u2018should\u2019 in the old Regulations] provide, to the fullest extent possible within the means and resources at their disposal, support to WHO-coordinated response activities\u201d. \nWhat if a state doesn\u2019t think there\u2019s even an emergency, and wants to continue as normal? Articles 12 and 49 make that irrelevant: the director-general will invite the state(s) to \u201cpresent their views\u201d \u2013 but he or she \u201cshall make the final determination on these matters\u201d.<\/p>\nWHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Despite all this, the truth is that no-one in Cyprus is discussing the WHO treaty or worrying about possible consequences \u2013 including our government. \n\u201cThe health ministry is involved in the negotiations and keeping a close eye on developments, including the various revisions of the text of the accord,\u201d a spokesperson from that ministry (which will represent the Cyprus government at the assembly this month) confirmed to the Cyprus Mail. \nThe statement adds that \u201cit\u2019s important to create a stronger international framework to reinforce prevention, preparedness and the response to future pandemics.\u201d There\u2019s no mention of potential downsides. \nWhy are people generally so unconcerned? One explanation is that they consider Covid to have been a once-in-a-century event, so whatever framework is put in place only applies to the distant future, and won\u2019t affect them personally. \nThis is probably a mistake. Dr Tedros himself has repeatedly spoken of \u201cthe next pandemic\u201d, warning (again, on X) that it\u2019s \u201ca matter of when, not if\u201d. \nJust last month, an article in the Financial Times led with the ominous headline: \u2018The next pandemic is coming. Will we be ready?\u2019. Various politicians \u2013 including, for instance, Kamala Harris \u2013 have passed the same message. \nThat said, there\u2019s another explanation. Maybe people do indeed expect a so-called \u2018Disease X\u2019 to arrive sometime soon \u2013 but they also trust the WHO to deal with it, and welcome the idea of a one-size-fits-all global response. \nSome would say the WHO had a disastrous pandemic, delaying or failing on every issue from airborne transmission to early treatment. Four years on from Covid, however, there still hasn\u2019t been a proper accounting, and what happened in 2020-22 is becoming normalised. \nIn fact, if you asked 100 Cypriots, a majority would probably agree that the WHO-approved response to that pandemic \u2013 locking down society in order to slow down the spread, while waiting for life-saving vaccines \u2013 should also apply in case of future ones. \nThe opposition to the accord (which presumably is why it got diluted) shows that countries aren\u2019t quite ready to cede all authority to the WHO just yet. \nWhen push comes to shove, however, the agreement is likely to be signed at the assembly in a few weeks \u2013 and, though states will still have 18 months to back out, it\u2019s unlikely to be rejected by any Western government, including ours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Countries are not ready to cede all authority to the WHO, but in a few weeks, most Western nations will sign the pandemic treaty at the World Health Assembly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6552,589,3038,5936,1240,7937,6262,432,3139,3,3734,3502,8170,4985,6021,263,201,6117,8903,8314,4081,250,3330,415,210,2581,187,185,3443,4442,7632,1864,3331,4941,5175,8983,7378,7567,4671,4428,8257,6386,317,586,7967,1827,1358,615,1026,4861,1681,8731,6303,730,5129,8568,6305,18],"class_list":["post-10766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-access","tag-africa","tag-agreement","tag-article","tag-clear","tag-compromise","tag-consequences","tag-covid","tag-cypriots","tag-cyprus","tag-cyprus-government","tag-deaths","tag-determination","tag-developments","tag-draft","tag-drugs","tag-europe","tag-event","tag-follow","tag-framework","tag-future","tag-google","tag-google-news","tag-government","tag-health","tag-health-ministry","tag-international","tag-main","tag-member-states","tag-message","tag-misinformation","tag-negotiations","tag-news","tag-organisation","tag-pandemic","tag-pandemic-treaty","tag-parties","tag-politicians","tag-proposal","tag-regulations","tag-response","tag-situation","tag-south-africa","tag-spain","tag-state","tag-statement","tag-support","tag-sweden","tag-talks","tag-treatment","tag-trust","tag-truth","tag-vaccine","tag-vaccines","tag-warning","tag-website","tag-who","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n
The global pandemic treaty is coming<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"pandemic treaty. pandemic treaty, WHO, member states\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The global pandemic treaty is coming\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"pandemic treaty. pandemic treaty, WHO, member states\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ch.jfdi.cc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-05T15:00:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming-14.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"36\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"24\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"headline\":\"The global pandemic treaty is coming\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-05T15:00:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766\"},\"wordCount\":1105,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming-14.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"access\",\"Africa\",\"agreement\",\"article\",\"clear\",\"compromise\",\"consequences\",\"covid\",\"cypriots\",\"Cyprus\",\"Cyprus government\",\"deaths\",\"determination\",\"developments\",\"draft\",\"drugs\",\"Europe\",\"event\",\"Follow\",\"framework\",\"future\",\"Google\",\"Google News\",\"government\",\"Health\",\"health ministry\",\"International\",\"Main\",\"member states\",\"message\",\"misinformation\",\"negotiations\",\"news\",\"organisation\",\"pandemic\",\"pandemic treaty\",\"parties\",\"politicians\",\"proposal\",\"regulations\",\"response\",\"situation\",\"south africa\",\"Spain\",\"state\",\"statement\",\"support\",\"sweden\",\"talks\",\"treatment\",\"trust\",\"truth\",\"vaccine\",\"vaccines\",\"warning\",\"website\",\"WHO\",\"World\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cyprus\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766\",\"name\":\"The global pandemic treaty is coming\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming-14.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-05T15:00:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"description\":\"pandemic treaty. pandemic treaty, WHO, member states\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming-14.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming-14.jpg\",\"width\":36,\"height\":24,\"caption\":\"The global pandemic treaty is coming\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=10766#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The global pandemic treaty is coming\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\",\"name\":\"ch.jfdi.cc\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\",\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cyprus-mail.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The global pandemic treaty is coming","description":"pandemic treaty. pandemic treaty, WHO, member states","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The global pandemic treaty is coming","og_description":"pandemic treaty. pandemic treaty, WHO, member states","og_url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766","og_site_name":"ch.jfdi.cc","article_published_time":"2024-05-05T15:00:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":36,"height":24,"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming-14.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cyprus Mail","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cyprus Mail","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766"},"author":{"name":"Cyprus Mail","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"headline":"The global pandemic treaty is coming","datePublished":"2024-05-05T15:00:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766"},"wordCount":1105,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming-14.jpg","keywords":["access","Africa","agreement","article","clear","compromise","consequences","covid","cypriots","Cyprus","Cyprus government","deaths","determination","developments","draft","drugs","Europe","event","Follow","framework","future","Google","Google News","government","Health","health ministry","International","Main","member states","message","misinformation","negotiations","news","organisation","pandemic","pandemic treaty","parties","politicians","proposal","regulations","response","situation","south africa","Spain","state","statement","support","sweden","talks","treatment","trust","truth","vaccine","vaccines","warning","website","WHO","World"],"articleSection":["Cyprus"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766","name":"The global pandemic treaty is coming","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming-14.jpg","datePublished":"2024-05-05T15:00:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"description":"pandemic treaty. pandemic treaty, WHO, member states","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming-14.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming-14.jpg","width":36,"height":24,"caption":"The global pandemic treaty is coming"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=10766#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The global pandemic treaty is coming"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/","name":"ch.jfdi.cc","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8","name":"Cyprus Mail","sameAs":["https:\/\/cyprus-mail.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?author=3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"who](\"http:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/the-global-pandemic-treaty-is-coming.jpg\")