Commentary
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently put up a defense of its violation of its own legal requirements by submitting draft amendments to the International Health Regulations for a vote at the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) in May. This was in response to various concerns raised in parliaments and civil society. This matters because (i) in ignoring legal requirements and rushing a vote, the WHO is putting global health and economies at risk, and (ii) the WHO is acting like a spoiled child, which suggests that the organization is no longer fit for its mandate.
A Rush Without Reason
For more than 18 months, negotiations have been underway at the WHO on two documents intended to change the way pandemics and threats of pandemics are managed, centralizing coordination and decision-making with the WHO. As of early May, the amendments to the 2005 International Health Regulations (
IHR) and a new
Pandemic Agreement are still being negotiated at the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (WGIHR) and the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, respectively. Despite the WHO being shown to have grossly misrepresented its evidence on the frequency of natural outbreaks and pandemic risk, which have been declining over the past one to two decades, these are proceeding with unusual urgency.
