Selling Out to WHO?

For John, BLUF:  We must be careful of our Federal Government giving away authority to supra-national organizations, especially ones dominated by nations with different views on governance, freedom and social organization.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden Seeks New Unilateral Powers for WHO Chief to Declare Public Health Emergencies

From Epoch Times, by Commentator Mark Tapscott, 17 May 2022.

Here is the lede plus four:

President Joe Biden’s administration is pushing amendments to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) governing regulations to give Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus unilateral authority to declare a public health emergency in any nation based on whatever evidence he chooses.

The proposed U.S. amendments were forwarded to the WHO in January for consideration next week by the UN’s 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

In a January 26 letter to a virtual meeting of WHO’s executive board, Loyce Pace, Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) described “the importance of equity and equitable access to medical countermeasures and the negative impacts of misinformation and disinformation related to the pandemic.  We agree that we must all do better.

“The United States led an inclusive and transparent process to develop this decision, as we are mindful that updating and modernizing the [International Health Regulations] IHR are critical to ensuring the world is better prepared for and can respond to, the next pandemic.”

I liked the "inclusive and transparent" words regarding the process.  I didn't feel included and it didn't seem transparent.  I didn't notice it in the newspapers I read.  In fact, the little mention I saw was in what I might consider fring publications.  Is this typical of the current Administration.

And, I am not too keen on giving more power to WHO, or to even national level parts of the administrative state.  If COVID taught us anything it should have been that larger governmental organizations sometimes get it wrong.  The corrolary is that larger governmental organizations will not just resist alternative views, but actively work to suppress alternative views.  Such actions are not "science".

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff