Musk clashes with WHO director over global pandemic treaty

Elon Musk and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, nan director-general of nan World Health Organization (WHO), battled connected Twitter complete nan imaginable dangers of a sweeping, legally binding world statement nether chat to combat early pandemics.

"Countries should not cede authority to WHO," Musk tweeted Thursday successful consequence to a video of Australian Senator Malcolm Roberts criticizing nan United Nations' wellness agency and what some supporters and opponents informally telephone a "pandemic treaty" that has been successful nan works.

Ghebreyesus quickly responded to Musk, nan billionaire proprietor of Twitter, rejecting nan conception that a pandemic pact would undermine nationalist sovereignty and centralize excessively overmuch powerfulness successful nan hands of nan WHO, arsenic critics allege.

"Countries aren't ceding sovereignty to [the WHO]," tweeted Ghebreyesus. "The pandemic accord won't alteration that. The accord will thief countries amended defender against pandemics. It will thief america to amended protect group sloppy of whether they unrecorded successful countries that are rich | aliases poor."

At the WHO's play news convention later connected Thursday, Ghebreyesus dismissed claims that nan pandemic pact would person countries cede powerfulness to nan WHO arsenic "quite simply false" and "fake news," successful an evident reference to Musk's comments.

"If immoderate leader aliases businessperson, aliases anyone astatine each is confused astir what nan pandemic accord is and isn't, we would beryllium much than happy to talk it and explicate it," said Ghebreyesus.

The WHO head added that countries will determine what nan global pandemic accord says and instrumentality its measures "in statement pinch their ain nationalist laws."

Supporters reason a pandemic pact tin reside nan holes exposed by nan world's consequence to nan COVID pandemic. Ghebreyesus has criticized countries for adopting "me-first" approaches that, he argues, stymie nan world solidarity needed to woody pinch threats for illustration COVID.

Elon Musk, right, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of World Health Organization. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images/iStock)

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Georgetown University Professor of Global Health Law Lawrence Gostin, head of nan WHO's Collaborating Center connected National and Global Health Law, has similarly condemned "nationalistic leaders" for "taking a stance of 'my state first.'"

An early draught of nan treaty reportedly included a measurement for governments to reserve 20% of immoderate tests, vaccines, aliases treatments developed for nan WHO to administer successful poorer countries. The draught besides appeared to push for intelligence spot authorities to beryllium waived during pandemics, which advocates opportunity would let for wider entree to life-saving narcotics and vaccines much quickly.

An first "zero draft" from past twelvemonth outlining ideas for really nan WHO tin fortify its preparedness and consequence to wellness emergencies called connected nan world assemblage to found a "new world strategy for surveillance" and "to deploy proactive countermeasures against misinformation and societal media attacks."

Dr. Manjul Shukla transfers Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, astatine a mobile vaccination session successful Worcester, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

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Critics opportunity nan pact would vastly grow nan authority and resources of nan WHO, which would beryllium fixed greater power to dictate really nations respond to early pandemics — power, they argue, that isn't deserved successful ray of nan world body's handling of COVID.

Republicans successful Congress person warned they will reason immoderate effort by nan Biden management to adhere to a world pandemic pact unless nan statement first wins Senate approval.

In December 2021, nan 194 personnel countries of nan World Health Assembly, nan WHO's decision-making body, agreed to "kickstart a world process to draught and discuss a convention, agreement, aliases different world instrumentality nether nan Constitution of nan World Health Organization to fortify pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response."

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The determination established an intergovernmental negotiating assemblage to draught an world pandemic treaty. Talks connected nan pact are underway. The extremity is to present a advancement study to nan World Health Assembly this twelvemonth and to adopt nan pact adjacent year.