The World Health Organization (WHO) is an agency of the United Nations. All the countries in the world are members of WHO and are therefore bound by its Constitution. In March 2021 twenty heads of government and international agencies made a joint statement saying that the international community should work together “towards a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response”. This working together will be in the form of a world pandemic treaty that “would be rooted in the Constitution of the World Health Organization.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – Director-General, World Health Organisation, United Nations
The impact of this world pandemic treaty would be global and all encompassing. “It would also include recognition of a ‘One Health’ approach that connects the health of humans, animals and our planet.” The main goal of this treaty would be to foster an all-of-government and all-of-society approach.
In this statement the COVID-19 pandemic is surprisingly being compared to World War I and also World War II (in which circa 80 million people died), and the aftermath in the 1940s. The statement points out that people should dispel the temptation of nationalism. The participants’ joint statement underlines their commitment to ensuring universal and equitable access to vaccine injections and to be able to develop, manufacture and deploy these injections as quickly as possible.
The International Health Regulations emerge from the WHO Constitution and provide a supranational legal framework that defines countries’ rights and obligations in handling public health events and emergencies that have the potential to cross borders.
These Regulations would underpin the proposed treaty and also outline the criteria to determine whether or not a particular event constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Once a PHEIC is declared, the WHO then develops the health measures for implementation by member states during such an emergency. Countries are expected to follow the WHO health measures, risking isolation if they do not do so.
In December 2021 the 194 WHO member countries reached a consensus to begin the drafting and negotiating of the instruments to set up this World Pandemic Treaty. An Intergovernmental Negotiating Body has been constituted and has held its first meeting in March 2022 The objective is for the treaty to be adopted by 2024.
On the 7 March this European Parliamentary Question was tabled, addressed to the European Commission: “To what extent will the Commission ensure that the citizen, who has no direct vote in a body such as the WHO, is not bypassed in the decision-making process and that a shift of competence further and further away from the voter does not lead to an increasing ‘de-democratisation’ of our society?
The spokesperson of the European Commission responded stating that the principle of ‘Informed opinion and active cooperation on the part of the public’ is anchored in the preamble of the Constitution of the WHO. The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body modalities will engage relevant stakeholders. The WHO Director-General will hold public hearings and will inform the Negotiating Body accordingly. The EU Commission is conducting these treaty negotiations, on behalf of member states.
The past two years have shown us that the Regulations followed by WHO member countries after the WHO Director-General declared that a corona virus caused a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, have had a huge impact on our lives.
People across the globe have experienced a severe curtailment in their freedom of movement caused by partial and total lockdowns and quarantine periods, making it illegal for them to leave their homes. Businesses have been ordered to close at short notice without any clue as to when they could reopen and whether, once open, they would be closed again. Schools, colleges and universities have also suffered similar shutdowns. Social distancing and mask wearing, covering nose and mouth, were also made mandatory.
Older people were totally isolated in care homes for any period of time. 2021 saw governments across the globe embark on a medical protocol, authorised for emergency use, which included repeatedly injecting a substantial portion of the world population. Travel was restricted and access to public and private gatherings subjected to presentation of personal medical data.
Many have observed that these health measures have caused incalculable suffering and disruption to children’s education, people of all ages and businesses everywhere. Millions of small and medium sized businesses have gone bankrupt. Substantial numbers of people have suffered severe mental and physical adverse health effects, including death. Society has become more dysfunctional.
Adverse reactions to the COVID injections are reportable on databases such as the US VAERS, the UK Yellow Card or the EU EudraVigilance. VAERS data released on the 6th May by the US CDC revealed a total of 1,25 million adverse events to date from all age groups following COVID-19 injections, including 27,758 deaths and 226,703 serious injuries. A 2006-2009 Harvard study, part of a VAERS system improvement effort, concluded that “fewer than 1% of vaccine adverse events are reported”. This statistic, albeit not fit for all purposes, is indicative of gross under-reporting.
Most health authorities consider the health measures implemented to have been necessary and that any adverse effects are exaggerated.
Although opinions may differ on the legitimacy and harm of a virus or of health measures, we can all agree that the WHO International Health Regulations impact all aspects of our lives and that they are beyond the reach and control of ordinary citizens. Now, they are about to become more invasive and more enforceable. Watch this space.
This article was presented to the Times of Malta for publication on the 7th May 2022 – to date it has not been published.
VAERS Data 5th August 2022: Nearly 30,000 Deaths reported on VAERS
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