WHO warns of ‘fake news’ after Elon Musk’s pandemic treaty tweet
The WHO has warned against “fake news” after Twitter boss Elon Musk’s tweet. (To file)
Geneva:
The World Health Organization warned against ‘fake news’ on Thursday after Twitter boss Elon Musk tweeted that countries should not ‘cede authority to the WHO’ under the negotiations on a new pandemic treaty.
“The claim that the deal will cede power to the WHO is just plain wrong. It’s fake news. Countries will decide what the deal says,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a press conference.
Mr Tedros did not mention Elon Musk by name, but earlier on Thursday he also tweeted a response to the Twitter chief, insisting that “countries don’t cede sovereignty to the WHO”.
“The Pandemic Agreement will not change that. The agreement will help countries better protect themselves against pandemics. It will help us better protect people, whether they live in rich or poor countries,” he said. he tweeted.
The exchange came as negotiations progress towards a global agreement to help prevent and quickly respond to future pandemics, with final text expected to be put to a vote by WHO member states in May 2024.
The agreement could respond to the need for rapid information exchange between countries facing a global health emergency like the Covid-19 pandemic, and could aim to prevent the endemic inequality seen in access to vaccines during this crisis.
The agreement is also expected to call on countries to strengthen national, regional and global preparedness and detection systems to detect pandemic risks.
Even before the talks began, the WHO was wrestling with a deluge of misinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding the negotiations and the future deal, including claims that the organization was considering taking over health policies in countries. Kings.
With the agreement under discussion, “no country will cede sovereignty to the WHO,” Mr. Tedros insisted Thursday to reporters.
“Countries will decide what the agreement says, and countries alone. And countries will implement the agreement in accordance with their own national laws.
“If any politician, business person or anyone else is unsure what the Pandemic Deal is or is not, we would be more than happy to discuss it and discuss it. ‘explain.”
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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