Faced with the millions of deaths caused by the disease and the economic and social devastation, Member States of the World Health Organization have launched negotiations on a binding agreement that would prevent the next health catastrophe.
Despite criticism and “misinformation”, these discussions are going well, assured Thursday the WHO officials in charge of the file.
A preliminary draft was communicated to the countries at the beginning of February, to serve as a basis for the negotiations which take place regularly in Geneva.
This draft so-called zero agreement is currently very broad, and the co-chair of the Bureau of the international negotiating body, Precious Matsoso, admitted on Thursday that certain subjects were likely to be difficult to negotiate, such as the intellectual property issue.
But the most important thing is that “Member States have recognized the importance of developing a legally binding instrument”she argued at a press conference.
In parallel, countries launched the review of the International Health Regulations – WHO’s roadmap to prevent the international spread of disease – to remedy the problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest negotiations on this subject “took place like the two previous meetings, with a very constructive dialogue”said Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, who co-chairs the Working Group in charge of the file. “These meetings bode well for the process”.
The schedule is tight. The WHO hopes that these two projects will be completed in May 2024, an ambitious objective given the complexity of the issues.
Especially since some, including the boss of the social network Twitter Elon Musk, are increasing criticism of the WHO, believing that its projects threaten to undermine the sovereignty of States.
Reviews that Dr. Bloomfield brushed off: “I am very perplexed by this, and I think we need to continually shut down this misinformation, because there is no way these processes, or even the WHO, can trample the sovereignty of nations.”.
No penalties
Dr Matsoso also argued that the treaty-making process ensured that it was up to states to determine “what should be included in this legal instrument”.
“It is unique because member states did not just look at a text and start negotiations”whereas usually “the lawyers produce a document” which is then negotiated by the countries, she said.
Steve Solomon, senior legal adviser at the WHO, pointed out to him that the states would continue to keep control even following 2024.
If the treaty were validated in May 2024 at the WHO, each State might then freely decide “whether or not he accepts what has been adopted”.
As for the amended International Health Regulations, if adopted in May 2024, they will not enter into force until a year later and “only for States which have not opted out”he said.
Officials also sought reassurance by arguing that they were hardly in favor of sanctions for non-compliance with WHO rules.
“We should look for ways to incentivize and support countries so that they implement the international health regulations in their entirety and respect their obligations, rather than applying sanctions”argued Dr. Bloomfield.
However, Dr Matsoso emphasized the importance of having “mechanisms” so that countries can be accountable, while remaining sovereign, as the UN does by regularly examining the human rights situation in each country.
In this regard, the WHO launched a pilot project two years ago with countries interested in this idea, explained Dr Jaouad Mahjour, of the WHO Secretariat.
So far, five countries have been examined: Central African Republic, Iraq, Thailand, Portugal and Sierra Leone, the WHO told AFP on Thursday.
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