Claim: Biden gave the World Health Organization full authority over US pandemic policy
A February 19 Gateway Critic Article makes a startling claim about US pandemic policy.
“The End of American Sovereignty: Biden Administration Negotiates ‘Legal-Binding’ Deal to Give China-Backed World Health Organization Full Authority Over US Pandemic Policy – Senate Approval Required” No,” reads the title of the article.
The article garnered over 6,000 shares on Facebook, according to social media insight tool CrowdTangle.A similar post was shared widely Instagram.
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A health law expert said the documents referred to in the article do not allow the World Health Organization to control US pandemic policy, which is determined by federal and state governments. , which aims to foster global cooperation in the response to the pandemic.
Proposed agreement gives no WHO control over US pandemic policy
By 2022, WHO Member States, including the United States, will: agreed to develop A legally binding agreement aimed at preventing future pandemics.of proposed agreement, It was drafted by the WHO’s Office of Intergovernmental Negotiating Bodies and published on 1 February.
Draft Subject to Negotiations by Member States while February 27th and March 3rd, final draft To be considered in 2024.
But contrary to the article’s claims, no part of the proposed agreement would give the WHO the power to control US pandemic policy. Lawrence Gostin Director of the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.
Fact check: Biden, WHO, False Claims of US Sovereignty
“This treaty calls for global cooperation in pandemic prevention and response,” Gostin said. “However, it does not dictate how any country should formulate its national health policy.
Federal and state governments will decide how to implement pandemic policy in the United States, said Gostin, who helped draft the agreement.
The draft agreement states, “States have sovereign power to determine and control their approach to public health, in particular pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, and the recovery of health systems, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the principles of international law.”
Brian AbramsonAn adjunct professor of vaccine law at Florida International University, he agreed that the agreement said nothing about transferring authority over the response to the pandemic to the WHO.
“Most of the provisions are wishful rather than obligatory and promote goals already pursued by the United States, regardless of the treaty, such as to respond to a possible pandemic. , having a sufficiently large and well-trained medical workforce, etc., and having a regulatory system in place to prevent the distribution of counterfeit medicines,” Abramson said.
Fact check: False claim that Joe Biden ‘abandoned’ US sovereignty
At this stage, it is unclear whether Senate approval is required for President Joe Biden to sign the deal, Gostin said. You may enter into international agreements with the United States without our advice and consent. Senate website.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared this allegation for comment.
political fact exposed Claim.
Fact-check sources:
- Lawrence GostinFebruary 21-22, email exchange with USA TODAY
- Brian AbramsonFebruary 22, email exchange with USA TODAY
- USA TODAY, May 25, 2022, Fact Checking: Biden, WHO, and False Claims of U.S. Sovereignty
- World Health Organization, accessed 22 February, Zero draft WHO CA+ for consideration at the 4th meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Bodies
- World Health Organization, accessed 22 February, intergovernmental bargaining body
- World Health Organization, 7 December 2022, WHO Member States agree to draft zero draft legally-binding pandemic agreement in early 2023
- World Health Organization, 25 November 2022, Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Agreement
- US Senate, accessed 22 February, About the treaty
- Politifact, Feb. 21, WHO pandemic agreement does not replace US sovereignty
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