Latest news with #InternationalHealthRegulationsAmendments
UPI
6 days ago
- Health
- UPI
U.S. officially withdraws from enhanced WHO pandemic response
Health workers in biohazard suits treat patients at a drive-thru coronavirus testing center at Seoul Metropolitan Eunpyeong Hospital in South Korea on March 4, 2020. The International Health Regulations Amendments approved on June 1, 2024, by the World Health Organization would allow the WHO to authorize lockdowns, travel restrictions or other measures regarding "public health risks." File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo July 18 (UPI) -- The United States officially won't be involved in an enhanced pandemic global response enacted by the World Health Organization, the Trump administration said Friday. The International Health Regulations Amendments approved on June 1, 2024, would allow the WHO to authorize lockdowns, travel restrictions or other measures regarding "public health risks" but not require them. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a new release WHO would have the "ability to order global lockdowns" as part of the reforms. A total of 194 member states, including the United States, plus Liechtenstein and the Vatican negotiated the amendments. After taking office for his second term on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump officially announced the United States would pull out of WHO by January 2026. On March 20, WHO member nations by a 124-0 vote adopted the 33-page first "Pandemic Agreement" but the United States didn't participate. This separate agreement from the amendments would strengthen the global health architecture for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response." The amendments are binding Saturday if not rejected by nations, regardless of whether the United States withdraws from WHO. It was adopted by consensus without a vote of the 77th World Health Assembly. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued statements on the formal rejection. Earlier, the Trump administration said it wouldn't adhere to the amendments. "The proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations open the door to the kind of narrative management, propaganda, and censorship that we saw during the COVID pandemic," Kennedy said. "The United States can cooperate with other nations without jeopardizing our civil liberties, without undermining our Constitution, and without ceding away America's treasured sovereignty." Kennedy also spoke in a video explaining the action. As did Rubio: "Terminology throughout the amendments to the 2024 International Health Regulations is vague and broad, risking WHO-coordinated international responses that focus on political issues like solidarity, rather than rapid and effective actions," Rubio said. "Our Agencies have been and will continue to be clear: we will put Americans first in all our actions and we will not tolerate international policies that infringe on Americans' speech, privacy, or personal liberties." Republicans in Congress applaud the decision. "The COVID-19 pandemic exposed how the incompetency and corruption at the WHO demands comprehensive reforms," Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said. "Instead of addressing its disastrous public health policies during COVID, the WHO wants International Health Regulation amendments and a pandemic treaty to declare public health emergencies in member states, which could include failed draconian responses like business and school closures and vaccine mandates." The amendments define what constitutes a pandemic emergency and how it can be triggered. There would also be information-sharing between countries across the world and WHO. And poorer nations would have access to medical products to "equitably address the needs and priorities of developing countries." The COVID-19 pandemic officially killed 7 million people but WHO estimates the toll to be 20 million since the virus was first detected in China in December 2019. Most nations, including the United States, are no longer tracking coronavirus cases, he said. "And on top of the human cost, the pandemic wiped more than US $10 trillion from the global economy," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyes, the director-general of WHO, said.
The Hill
6 days ago
- Health
- The Hill
US rejects amendments to WHO international health regulations
Trump administration officials on Friday rejected a series of rules to help the international community prevent and respond to public health risks. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a joint statement formally rejecting the 2024 International Health Regulations Amendments (IHR) by the World Health Organization (WHO). 'The proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations open the door to the kind of narrative management, propaganda, and censorship that we saw during the COVID pandemic,' Kennedy said in a video message posted on social platform X. 'The United States can cooperate with other nations without jeopardizing our civil liberties, without undermining our Constitution, and without ceding away America's treasured sovereignty,' he added. The IHR is an international legal agreement that has been adopted by all 194 WHO member states and includes an outline to 'rights and responsibilities' of the organization and governments in handling global health emergencies like pandemics. Member states decided to review and potentially amend the IHR in 2022 in light of the challenges that arose among the international community in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to health nonprofit KFF. The WHO formally approved a of number revisions to the IHR last year, but they did not come to a consensus on a pandemic agreement until earlier this year. Kennedy said in the video message that WHO member states have until next to reject the amendments. He added that the U.S. is choosing to reject the amended regulations, in part, for reasons related to 'national sovereignty.' 'Nations who accept the new regulations are signing over their power in health emergencies to an unelected, international organization that could order lockdowns, travel restrictions or any other measures it sees fit,' the HHS chief said. 'If we are going to give the WHO that much power we should at least invite a thorough public debate.' He noted that the U.S.'s decision to reject the amendments was sparked by concerns over a regulation regarding 'risk communications' systems. The amended requirements, Kennedy continued, require countries to establish systems of risk communication that he believes opens the door to 'narrative management, propaganda and censorship' that the world saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'We don't want to see that kind of system institutionalized even further,' he said. There is also concern over a provision in the amendments related 'global systems of health IDs and vaccine passports' which Kennedy thinks will pave the way for global medical surveillance. The move is the latest in the Trump administration's efforts to try and distance the U.S. from the WHO. In January, President Trump issued an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the organization and stated the country would pause the future transfer of funding. The president tried to withdraw the country from the international organization during his first term. The withdrawal never happened — it takes a year for a member state to fully withdraw from the WHO — and former President Biden reversed the decision once he took office. Public health experts decried Trump's move, warning that it would severely weaken domestic and global public health.
