Apr 18, 2025
The director-general of the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced on Monday that a final draft of a proposed “pandemic agreement” is only one article away from completion.
The W.H.O. has spent much time in the years following the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic promoting the establishment of a pandemic treaty or other international legal document to govern the behavior of sovereign countries in the event of another similar incident. The document – initially referred to as the “W.H.O. convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response,” or “WHO CA+” because countries could not agree on a name – would describe how countries should share relevant medical intelligence and distribute medical supplies and technology such as vaccines, and how to trace the origin of diseases to contain them.
The W.H.O. is apparently now referring to the document only as the “pandemic agreement,” though it would likely function in countries such as the United States as a treaty, which members of Congress have insisted should require approval from the Senate. American officials have expressed reservations that signing onto such an agreement would damage the ability of American companies to expeditiously develop technology to address new diseases and could make the U.S. government response subordinate to the W.H.O.
Tedros has repeatedly condemned concerns about sovereignty as “misinformation” and claimed that, instead, signing onto the pandemic agreement would expand nations’ sovereign power.
“Far from ceding sovereignty, the agreement actually affirms national sovereignty and national responsibility in its foundational principles,” he claimed in February 2024. “Indeed, the agreement is itself an exercise of sovereignty.”
The group of global diplomats working on the pandemic accord, known formally as the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, concluded an extended work period this weekend that began on Friday and ended on Saturday morning in Geneva. In remarks on Monday, Tedros commended their commitment and announced that they were closer than ever to agreement. Notably, since President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the W.H.O. in January, American negotiators were not present during this round of talks.
Tedros celebrated. “As you know, after a long week and a marathon session on Friday that lasted until Saturday morning, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body is closer than ever to delivering on its mandate,” he said. READ MORE
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SOURCE: Breitbart