Newly-adopted World Health Organization amendments commit the U.S. to giving WHO wide-ranging authority to police, surveil and control Americans, in the name of protecting them from “pandemic emergencies,” a former WHO medical director warns.
Approved on June 1, the Biden Administration-backed amendments to WHO’s International Health Regulations (IHR) require WHO to set up an office (“National IHR Authority”) in the U.S., from which it will address both real and perceived “potential” health threats.
In a May 28 interview with American Family Radio, former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) urged the Biden Administration to reverse course and vote against the amendments. Bachmann said she feared the amendments would weaken U.S. sovereignty and be used by the federal government as an excuse to exert greater control over Americans’ lives.
After their adoption, the Brownstone Institute published an analysis of the amendments co-authored by Senior Scholar David Bell, a public health physician and former WHO medical officer. Titled “IHR Amendments Open Door to Perpetual Emergencies,” the report examines the amendments line by line, highlighting their most problematic initiatives:
- Broadening the definition of a “pandemic emergency” to the point that “a simple threat can be declared an emergency,” resulting in a proliferation of declared “emergencies” and government-imposed mandates, restrictions and lockdowns.
- Ordaining WHO’s Director-General “as the sole person who declares” a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
- Creation of National IHR Authorities (offices) in member countries (such as the U.S.) to manage, implement and track compliance with the WHO agenda.
- Requiring member nations to perform “a broad list of surveillance and reporting activities” within their respective countries.
- Justifying the imposition of mandates and restrictions under the guise of combating perceived “potential” health threats.
- Broadening the definition of “health products” to the point that “a whole industry of pandemic products will be facilitated and rolled out by the WHO, without any oversight, transparency, and accountability mechanisms.”
In a statement to CNSNews, WHO confirmed that:
- The president of the United States has ten months from the date that the Director-General issues a formal notice of the amendments to reject or voice reservations regarding any the amendments on behalf of his country.
- The amendments would come into force two months after the ten-month deadline passes, if the U.S. does not file reservations or reject them (12 months total from passage).
- The Director-General will issue the formal notice and the final text “in the coming weeks.”
But, even if the U.S. commits to the amendments and fails to abide by them, WHO currently has no method of compelling compliance and cannot forcefully impose any health measure, including lockdowns or other restrictions, on the populations of any country.
Additionally, the accord does not constitute a treaty, which would require approval by at least two-thirds of U.S. Senate.