Is the international pandemic accord that is being developed by the member states of the World Health Organisation intended to limit the sovereignty of individual countries to make decisions on health and health care issues? No, that's not true: The accord is designed to improve global preparedness and the preparedness of individual countries to better coordinate their response to any future pandemics. The WHO and its member states agreed to prepare such an accord in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused loss of life and disrupted households and societies.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on November 14, 2023. The subtitle (translated from Czech to English by Lead Stories staff) reads: "The WHO accord is the greatest danger. Absolute power over citizens under the guise of health protection." The narrator starts (translated from Czech to English by Lead Stories staff):
Exactly this absurd and perverted is the worldwide accord among states and the World Health Organisation. There are conditions due to which we can loose all our rights in health issues.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Nov 17 11:39:18 UTC 2023)
The Pandemic Accord, a collaborative initiative involving all 194 members of the (WHO), is being developed. Its purpose is to establish comprehensive rules and standards aimed at enhancing global readiness to prevent pandemics and effectively respond to future health emergencies. The decision to forge this international instrument was made by WHO members in December 2021, spurred by the profound impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on societies worldwide. The efforts have been endorsed by international representatives, as well as the European Union.
The treaty has been the subject of much misinformation, including claims, such as in the video on TikTok above, that it threatens national sovereignty or that the WHO will send troops to enforce it.
According to the July 17, 2023, WHO video on YouTube, which is meant to debunk some claims about the accord, it won't give the WHO any executive power over the governments: It is the member states that are responsible for creating the text of the accord and will remain responsible for its response to any potential future pandemic. The treaty is not intended to give the WHO surveillance power, the ability to dictate vaccine mandates or any power to dictate anything, Steven Solomon, one of the WHO lawyers, says in the video.
In a press conference on March 23, 2023, WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also warned against the misinformation that the new accord, not yet finalized, would allow WHO to override national sovereignty in a future potential outbreak. He emphasized that the countries alone will decide the "wording and scope" of such a global agreement. He replied in a similar fashion (archived here) to Elon Musk's post (archived here) making a similar assertion.
(Source: X screenshot taken on Nov 20 11:20 UTC 2023)
The preliminary version of the treaty, known as the Zero Draft, was released on February 1, 2023. Representatives from WHO member states discussed it within the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB). One key emphasis is the principle of respecting individual states' sovereignty when addressing public health issues, particularly in areas such as pandemic prevention, preparedness, response and health system recovery. The INB is anticipated to present the results of the treaty negotiations by May 2024, as outlined in the timeline.
