WHO chief hits out at ‘litany of lies’ against plans for global pandemic response
An international agreement on pandemic preparedness is a commitment to national security that must not be derailed by lies and misinformation, the head of the World Health Organisation said yesterday.
WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the World Governments Summit in Dubai that claims that pandemic controls like lockdowns were to be taken out of the hands of sovereign states were false.
A draft preparedness treaty has been criticised for failing to protect human rights protected under international law, such as a right to health and access to scientific development.
Two years after work began on an international framework to protect nations against pandemics, time is running out for a detailed agreement to be signed by 194 member states.
Dr Tedros asked world leaders to commit to the treaty when the 77th World Health Assembly convenes in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 27.
“Exactly six years ago, I said the world was not prepared for a pandemic and expressed my concern at that time that a pandemic could happen at any time,” he said.
“Less than two years later, the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and the world is still not prepared today.
“In the aftermath, millions of people are dead, with social, economic and political shocks that reverberate to this day.
“The painful lessons we learnt are in danger of being forgotten as attention turns to many other crises confronting our world.
“But if we fail to learn those lessons, we will pay dearly next time – and there will be a next time.
“The cycle of panic and neglect is beginning to repeat.”
Legally binding international health regulations were criticised as inadequate during the handling of the pandemic and are to be reformed.
While Dr Tedros declared an international public health emergency in January 2020, the worsening situation was not classified as a pandemic until two months later.
Since then, progress has been made in improvements to pandemic warning, the building of a pathogen sharing centre and improving on capacities in vaccine production in record time. Meanwhile, scientists have united to identify the next emerging pathogen that could threaten humanity.
More than 200 experts working with the WHO are assessing the pandemic risks from 30 families of viruses and a core group of bacteria.
Dr Tedros said he supported concerns voiced at the Davos World Economic Forum last month that misinformation threatened to derail the international pact designed to protect nations during another outbreak.
“There is a litany of lies and conspiracy theories about the agreement,” said Dr Tedros.
“It is claimed that it’s a power grab by the WHO, or that it will cede sovereignty to the WHO and give it power to impose lockdowns or vaccine mandates on countries.
“Others said it’s an attack on freedom, and that the WHO will not allow people to travel, or want to control people’s lives. These claims are utterly, completely and categorically false. The agreement actually affirms national sovereignty and national responsibility in its foundational principles.
“It’s about the commitments countries are making to keep themselves and each other safer from pandemics.
“That’s why the pandemic agreement is mission critical for humanity.
“We will not expose the generations who follow us to the same suffering that we endured.”
In April, Dr Tedros told the assembly that humanity “would not be able to forgive ourselves” if the lessons of the pandemic were not learnt.
“If we are serious about the lessons that we learnt, then we will find solutions so we are not confronted by the same mistakes.”