is not a platform for disinformation and lies.”
The Biden administration is preparing to sign the United States up to a legally binding accord with the World Health Organization (WHO) that would give the UN subsidiary the authority to dictate America’s policies during a pandemic. Xavier Becerra, US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the U.S.-WHO Strategic Dialogue in September 2022, which resulted in a “zero draft” of a pandemic treaty published on Feb. 1. A meeting of the WHO’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) is scheduled for Feb. 27 to work out the final terms, which all members will then sign. The treaty grants the WHO the power to declare and manage a global pandemic emergency, and requires member nations to monitor and regulate against substandard and falsified pandemic-related products. It also calls for the implementation of “One Health surveillance,” which has been hijacked to claim that all human activities and all issues within the biosphere affect health, and are therefore within Public Health’s remit.
The key question surrounding the accord is whether the Biden administration can bind America to treaties and agreements without the consent of the U.S. Senate, which is required under the Constitution. The zero draft concedes that, per international law, treaties between countries must be ratified by national legislatures, thus respecting the right of their citizens to consent. However, the draft also includes a clause that the accord will go into effect on a “provisional” basis, as soon as it is signed by delegates to the WHO, and therefore it will be legally binding on members without being ratified by legislatures. This is an attempt to appeal to international organizations to impose policies that have been rejected by America’s voters.
The WHO pandemic agreement also calls for signatories to invest in “One Health surveillance,” and to support the official narrative when it comes to information about a pandemic. This includes conducting regular social listening and analysis to identify the prevalence of misinformation, and designing communications and messaging strategies for the public to counteract it. This aligns with efforts by the Biden administration to make sure social media is not a platform for disinformation and lies.
If the WHO pandemic accord goes into effect, it will supersede the laws of member states and grant the WHO the power to dictate treatments, government regulations such as lockdowns and vaccine mandates, global supply chains, and monitoring and surveillance of populations. This would likely include forcing populations to take newly-developed vaccines while preventing doctors from prescribing non-vaccine treatments or medicines. The Biden administration is attempting to bypass the U.S. Constitution, which does not grant the federal government authority over health care, and appeal to international organizations to impose policies that have been rejected by America’s voters.