US has not proposed giving WHO control of health care

In an interview, former US House of Representatives Michele Bachmann claimed that the Biden administration had proposed to the World Health Organization (WHO) to control the country’s health decisions. This is wrong. The United States has proposed amendments to the WHO rules aimed at strengthening the authorities’ response to future outbreaks of illness, but global agencies and experts have given WHO the power to invalidate domestic policies. It states that it will not give.

“The Biden administration has brought about amendments proposing that all countries on the planet transfer sovereignty over national medical decisions to WHO,” Republican Buckman, who ran for president in 2012, told Facebook in 2022. Said in a video posted on May 10th. “This means Steve, WHO has the policy of the US Government without our permission, and the decision-making power to intervene in any country in the world.”

Watched over 158,000 times, this clip comes from an episode of the podcast and online show “Warroom,” hosted by Steve Bannon, former US President Donald Trump’s Chief White House Strategist.

Screenshot of Facebook video taken on May 23, 2022

Similar claims are made on Facebook, Instagram, twitter When the WHO was convened at the World Health Assembly in Geneva on May 22-28, it was the first full-faced annual meeting since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Many of the claims promoted by the conservative United States politician And experts aim for long-term discussions on potential global agreements to strengthen international pandemic responses.

Voting for such an agreement is not on the agenda for this year’s convocation of the World Health Assembly, the WHO decision-making body in Geneva. WHO member states are discussing a series of potential amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), which, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “building the ability to detect and report potential public health emergencies around the world. It is a legally binding agreement of 196 countries to do. ” Disease management prevention.

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WHO has begun a public process to renew the IHR following criticism of the Covid-19 pandemic’s handling by public health agencies.

The United States has proposed amendments, but none of them are similar to what Buckman claimed.

The April 2022 submission from the United States contains a number of recommendations for overhauling WHO regulations. It requires more assistance for Member States to detect and report public health emergencies, as well as faster WHO notification and outbreak investigations.

“The United States has not proposed to transfer sovereignty over the country’s medical decisions to WHO,” said Polly Price, a professor of law and global health at Emory University.

She said future treaties “can’t be effective without major changes in the structure of the United Nations and WHO, and no one, let alone the United States, has seen it proposed.” ..

The delegation will meet on the first day of the 75th World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva on May 22, 2022 (AFP / Jean-Guy Python).

Asked about her allegations in the video, Buckman said the US proposal would allow WHO to invalidate health policies in member countries.

“Presidents Trump and Biden have exercised broad authority under the Urgent Declaration,” said Buckman, now Dean of the Robertson Government School at Regent University. “The same is true in practice, as UN member states are willing to abandon individual nation-state decisions on health care to WHO as a global state body.”

However, WHO said the claim was incorrect.

“There is no proposal to transfer national sovereignty to WHO,” an official spokesman said in an email statement. “The World Health Organization has 194 member states, or countries, and it is these countries that make sovereignty decisions.”

Under the proposed IHR amendment proposed by the United States, countries affected by the outbreak will take 48 hours to accept or reject the support provided by WHO. If a country declines, the agency must “immediately share” information about the exchange with other member countries.

Beyond naming and shame, the proposal does not include a mechanism for implementing WHO recommendations.

Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill National and Global Institutes of Health Law at Georgetown University, explained on May 19, 2022 that the WHO’s recommendations were “non-binding.” Twitter thread.. “The state is legally obliged to report dangerous outbreaks, but there is no enforcement mechanism and countries often do not obey. For example, China does not promptly report outbreaks of Covid, which the US conservatives have severely criticized. “He wrote.

Gostin told AFP that the proposed amendment would not affect US health policy.

“IHR does not even cover domestic health decisions. Patients and their doctors are completely unaffected, and the United States has the full right to develop its own health policy,” Gostin said in an email. Told. “Furthermore, future pandemic treaties will not affect US health care decisions. No one has proposed it.”

AFP has contacted the Permanent Mission to the United Nations and the US State Department for additional comment.