(OPINION) Health officials are issuing very ominous warnings about the potential for an H5N1 pandemic among humans while the WHO is preparing for a vote on the global pandemic treaty at the 77th World Health Assembly at the end of this month.
The global pandemic treaty will give the World Health Organization far more authority than it had during the last pandemic, and a lot of people are deeply concerned about how that power will be used during the next major health crisis. As you will see below, two more human cases of the bird flu have just been confirmed.
If the bird flu mutates into a form that can spread easily from human to human, that will create an enormous amount of fear, and the death toll could potentially be catastrophic. In such an environment, what sort of extreme measures would the World Health Organization decide to institute?
Negotiators have been feverishly working to finalize the global pandemic treaty in recent weeks. The following comes directly from the official WHO website…
Governments of the world today agreed to continue working on a proposed pandemic agreement and to refine the draft further ahead of the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly that starts on 27 May 2024.
Governments meeting at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva agreed to resume hybrid and in-person discussions over coming weeks to advance work on critical issues, including around a proposed new global system for pathogen access and benefits sharing (i.e. life-saving vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics); pandemic prevention and One Health; and the financial coordination needed to scale up countries’ capacities to prepare for and respond to pandemics.
Here in the United States, the mainstream media has been strangely quiet about this treaty, but it is a big deal. Negotiations have been taking place for the last two years, and the plan is to submit the final draft for a vote at the World Health Assembly at the end of this month…
The Member State-led Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) was established over two years ago to advance this effort. The INB’s Bureau, which is guiding the process, will submit its outcome for consideration at the World Health Assembly.
INB Bureau Co-Chair Dr Precious Matsoso, from South Africa, said progress had been made during this latest round of discussions on a wide range of issues contained in the draft agreement.
“We are witnessing history play out before our eyes during this process, with the coming together of all countries to decide a binding pact to protect all citizens of the world,” said Ms Matsoso.
“This is not a simple exercise. This is the first-ever process to develop a proposed agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. Getting this done means getting it right, and the INB Bureau is committed to help finalize a meaningful, lasting agreement.”
The 77th World Health Assembly will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from May 27th to June 1st. Member nations will cast their votes on the final draft of the global pandemic treaty, and it is fully expected to pass.
We have been told that the global pandemic treaty has been “watered down”, but in reality all that has really changed is that some language in the treaty has been made more vague. (READ MORE)
