Liberals Were Just Dying to Share This Talking Point Last Night
The Crusty Commies Are a Joke
Barack Obama Doing This Behind the Scenes Confirms Again That Kamala Was a...
Lawn Gone Liberty: The Update
Deportation Dysphoria in the Press, and MSNBC Loses Its Star Statistician
Jeffrey Goldberg Congratulates Himself All Over PBS
Shut Down the Department of Education ASAP
Why National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Will Make Americans Safer
Self-Destructive Democracies
The President Who Set the Precedent Against a Third Term
Roadmap to Reform CDC -- Currently the Centers for Disaster and Confusion
Progressives Are Well Organized, Patriotic Americans Have to Do It Even Better
Supreme Court’s Getting Busy
Lawmakers Shouldn’t Let Bad Actors Get Away With Harming Children Online
Where Are the Left’s Protests Now?
Tipsheet

Effort to Draft WHO Pandemic Treaty Fails

Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP

After more than two years of negotiations, World Health Organization member states failed to reach an agreement on a draft global treaty that would fight future pandemics. 

Advertisement

WHO officials had hoped to present the draft at its yearly meeting of health ministers in Geneva this week. 

The accord’s aim was to set guidelines for how the WHO’s 194 member countries might stop future pandemics and better share resources. But experts warned there were virtually no consequences for countries that don’t comply.

The co-chairs of the treaty-drafting process didn’t specify what caused the logjam, but diplomats have said vast differences remained over sharing of information about pathogens that emerge and the sharing of technologies to fight them.

The latest draft had proposed that WHO should get 20% of the production of pandemic-related products like tests, treatments and vaccines and urges countries to disclose their deals with private companies.

Earlier this month, U.S. Republican senators wrote to the Biden administration, arguing that the draft treaty focused on issues like “shredding intellectual property rights” and “supercharging the WHO.” They urged Biden not to sign off.

Britain’s department of health said it would only agree to an accord if it adhered to British national interest and sovereignty.

Meanwhile, many developing countries said it’s unfair that they might be expected to provide virus samples to help develop vaccines and treatments, but then be unable to afford them. (AP)

Advertisement

Despite disagreements over the draft treaty, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted “this is not a failure.” 

“We will try everything — believing that anything is possible — and make this happen because the world still needs a pandemic treaty,” he said. “Because many of the challenges that caused a serious impact during COVID-19 still exist.”

If adopted, WHO member nations would be legally bound by the treaty, which in this case would include policies on pathogen surveillance and scientific data sharing regarding outbreaks, among other issues. 


 

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement