Should International Bodies Be Meddling in U.S. Health Policy?
From Sunday through Saturday, the United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO) is set to consider amendments to the International Health Regulations proposed by the Biden Administration that could give the untrustworthy WHO increased control and influence over healthcare decisions in the United States and around the world. It is appalling that the U.S. is not only supporting but proposing such a policy after the WHO’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The amendments remove guardrails on WHO’s director-general (currently Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia), giving him enormous power to declare “health emergencies” around the globe, which would give objecting sovereign nations less procedural power to weigh in on the policies WHO makes pursuant to health-emergency declarations.
The new language, for example, strikes out a provision that requires the WHO to “consult with and attempt to obtain verification from [sovereign nations] in whose territory the event is allegedly occurring.…” This removes an important accountability measure that keeps WHO itself in check by requiring it to consult the United States, for example, if a matter involves our nation.
The amendments also give WHO more authority over what type of “information [is] made available to other [sovereign nations] to make informed, timely risk assessments.” This is yet another measure that could be used against our country by allowing WHO to garner pressure against the United States’ decisions regarding our public health response.
Taking away WHO’s guardrails for health-emergency determinations and expanding its information-sharing power is dangerous.
We must act now! The U.S. can still withdraw its support of this poorly crafted policy that would accelerate the ongoing push towards a more centralized governance model for worldwide health policy. It undermines U.S. sovereignty and should be opposed.
The amendments are scheduled to be considered from Sunday, May 22 through Saturday, May 28 at the 75th World Health Assembly at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Here is what you can do:
- Contact the U.S. State Department and express your concerns with the “Proposed Amendments to the International Health Regulations” that would increase foreign influence and power over U.S. health policy and sovereignty.
- Contact your members of Congress, both in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and ask them to do everything in their power to sound the alarm on the dangerous risks of this ill-advised policy.
Mario Díaz, Esq., serves as Concerned Women for America’s (CWA) Legal Counsel and leads CWA’s Legal Studies Department. Mr. Diaz is a Constitutional Law scholar who focuses on cases and legislation dealing with CWA’s core issues: religious liberty, sanctity of human life, defense of the family, sexual exploitation, education, national sovereignty, and support for Israel.
Editor’s Note: This piece originally appeared on Concerned Women for America.
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