WHA ends today. Let me quickly clarify what happened re the Pandemic Treaty, as there is much confusion about it.

Sometimes the confusion is deliberate.

Last Monday, May 19, on day 1 of the World Health Assembly (WHA), its Committee A voted to accept the draft of the Pandemic Treaty that had been ironed out by the International Negotiating Body, and present it to the full WHA for adoption. (The WHO always creates committees whose names don’t identify their purpose, similar to how it changes the names of its treaties.)

Early the next morning, before the members could talk among themselves about the BioHub or other matters, the WHO bureaucracy put the Pandemic Agreement in front of the entire WHA, where a “consensus” agreed to adopt it.

For example, here is what the WHO says about the Pandemic Agreement, admitting it is meant to be a binding treaty.

Conventions, framework agreements and treaties are all examples of international instruments, which are legal agreements made between countries that are binding.

Here is its other name: Pandemic prevention, preparedness and response accord, just to keep you on your toes.

However, it is not actually a treaty yet, because it has to contain the PABS section, which has been moved out to an annexe. PABS (the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system) will need to be negotiated anew, and agreed upon, before the Pandemic Treaty can be finalized.

Therefore, it is NOT open for signing. It is NOT finished. It cannot be ratified, nor go into force for the foreseeable future.

The existence of the BioHub, a parallel path to achieving a PABS system controlled by the WHO (but in the absence of member states agreeing on its rules) will be a confounding factor, and we do not know how it will affect the PABS negotiations.

Be aware that nations were happy to sign onto the Pandemic Treaty because at this time it does not require them to pay for it nor does it impinge on their governance of their nations—but it was originally intended to do both. So the member states may well balk when the actual details come to light. Of course, the idea is to lasso all the nations and then let them find out what the rules are. But that may not work any more….