The World Health Organization (WHO) has formally adopted the Pandemic Agreement following three years of tumultuous negotiations. No countries voted against the treaty, while 11 countries, including Poland, Israel, Italy, Russia, Slovakia and Iran abstained. It is the second legally binding agreement to be adopted in the WHO’s history after the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of 2003.
124 countries voted in favour of the agreement late on Monday evening, including Ireland. Last month, Ireland’s health minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, said: “Ireland, together with the other WHO member states, has today taken a major step forward in efforts to make the world safer from future pandemics by forging a draft agreement for consideration at the upcoming World Health Assembly in May.”
The Minister added: “I want to pay tribute to all involved in negotiating this agreement. It illustrates the power of working together towards shared goals and demonstrates global commitment to protect us all from future pandemics.”
A formal vote had been forced by Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico, an outspoken skeptic of Covid-19 vaccines, who last month halted purchases of Covid-19 vaccines. The agreement, after receiving overwhelming backing, was formally adopted by the WHO at a plenary of the WHC on Tuesday morning. More than 150,000 people had signed a petition on the UK Parliament’s website urging the UK not to sign the agreement until it had been approved via public referendum.
Professor Mary Horgan, Ireland’s interim chief medical officer, also welcomed the agreement as “very positive progress in strengthening global pandemic prevention and preparedness and ensures that the world will be equitably united to respond swiftly to any future pandemics.”
However, some TDs, including opposition politician Mattie McGrath, had expressed apprehension about the agreement, previously pressing then Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, about the implications of the treaty. Last year, the Tipperary TD accused the Government of “trying to evade debate” on what he said was a “burning issue” that his constituents had expressed interest in.
McGrath had asked if a constitutional referendum could be held to “ascertain the views of the people, who are guardians of the Constitution.” Responding last year, the former health minister said that Ireland “supports this WHO-led process to negotiate a binding legal instrument on pandemic preparedness and response.” He added that the aim of such a Pandemic Treaty was “to protect public health and to help save lives in the event of future pandemics.”
“The requirements of the Irish Constitution will, of course, be fully respected in Ireland’s position towards the negotiations and my department will engage with the Office of the Attorney General in relation to any concerns that may arise in that regard.”
The treaty encourages better disease surveillance and the sharing of vaccines and other medicines during major outbreaks of disease. The initiative, first announced in May 2021, was the source of controversy and division among WHO member states, and significant changes were made to the treaty during the recently concluded negotiation process.
It now explicitly rules out any role for the WHO over individual member states, as powers over issues such as lockdowns, vaccine mandates and travel restrictions are now outside of its remit. The alterations came after states including the UK expressed firm opposition to vaccine-related commitments, saying they would not sign any form of the pandemic agreement that would undermine national sovereignty.
Clause 22.2 says: “Nothing in the WHO Pandemic Agreement shall be interpreted as providing the Secretariat of the World Health Organization, including the Director-General of the World Health Organization, any authority to direct, order, alter or otherwise prescribe the national and/or domestic law.”
In a statement today, the WHO said: “The proposal affirms the sovereignty of countries to address public health matters within their borders, and provides that nothing in the draft agreement shall be interpreted as providing WHO any authority to direct, order, alter or prescribe national laws or policies, or mandate States to take specific actions, such as ban or accept travellers, impose vaccination mandates or therapeutic or diagnostic measures or implement lockdowns.”
The agreement will not formally come into force until an annex on pathogen sharing is negotiated, which could take another two years.
The US will not be bound by the Pandemic Treaty as in January President Donald Trump announced the US was leaving the WHO, with the US president accusing the WHO of ripping off the United States and being beholden to other member states through the UN organisation.
Mr Trump accused the WHO of ripping off the United States, bungling the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and being beholden to other member states, as he gave notice of America’s departure.
The US departure from the organisation left a financial hole of $1.7 billion, which has been plugged with the help of Ireland. Jennifer Carroll Macneill told the Irish Times this week that Ireland had become among the first UN member states to pay a voluntary increase in membership fees after the US withdrew from the global body. According to the Minister, Ireland has increased its assessed contributions, or membership fee, to the WHO by about 50 per cent. The amount of money paid to the body from the Irish government has increased from €2.2 million to €3.4 million. In total, Ireland contributed more than €16.5 million to the WHO last year.