As WHO Pandemic Treaty Nears Completion, Critics Raise Red Flags for US Freedoms

The legally binding agreement is structured in such a way that it sidesteps U.S. Senate approval for the United States to join, which is required for treaties.

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images, World Health Organization

As the May deadline approaches for finalizing negotiations between the World Health Organization (WHO) and its 194 member nations over how much authority they will cede to the WHO once it declares a global health emergency, many health and policy experts are urging the Biden administration not to sign the United States up to the agreement.

In February 2023, WHO member states negotiated the “Zero Draft” of a new treaty, which wasn’t identified as a treaty but rather as the “WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (WHO CA+).”